The Reunion
by classycontour
Summary: Doc Hudson gets reunited with friends he left behind. Seeing him on the TV during the tiebreaker race in California, his old friends see this as an opportunity for a surprise visit to Radiator Springs. HHTTF sequal. DocxOC? COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy! _

**CHAPTER ONE**

Brian was first to spot him, "There, over there, that's Hudson."

Sadie pulled up beside him on the right. "Are you sure?" She asked.

Dave pulled up on Brian's left, "Of course that's Hudson. There's no mistaking him."

Brian fell back from between Sadie and Dave to drive along side Laura. "Hey, you doing alright?" He asked, looking deeply into her eyes.

Laura sighed, "Yeah, I just can't believe I'd ever see him again." She said, forcing a laugh.

Brian knew that she was troubled, she had mentioned Doc's name almost every other day after he disappeared. "You still love him, don't you?" He asked, even though he knew the answer.

"Well yeah, otherwise I wouldn't have come along."

Brian hated hearing that answer. He cringed at the thought that she still did. When Laura had heard that Dave, Sadie and him were going to see Doc, she asked if she could come. He couldn't tell her no, he just couldn't. "Remember," He said, "You're married. Stick to the plan..."

Brian drove off to meet up with Sadie and Dave.

They were approaching the core of town rather quickly.

Right before the four left, Brian had told Laura to lie about her life back in South Carolina for reasons everyone knew.

Laura caught up to the three wide group ahead of her. She drove up to them as Brian was jogging everyone's memory. "Shut off your engines, this is supposed to be a surprise visit."

The group shut off their engines as they passed Sarge's Surplus Hut so as to not make any sound approaching.

"That's Hudson alright..." Dave noted.

Brian looked at him oddly. "Really Dave? Didn't we just establish that?"

"Be quiet you two." Sadie said to them.

Brian turned his attention to Laura, "Keep hidden behind us until I say so."

She nodded silently and kept pace behind them.

Coming up to Flo's, the group braked to a stop at the curb behind Doc who was busy telling a story. While he rambled on, the townsfolk looked behind Doc to the newcomers.

Brian smirked, he remembered the story Doc was telling them. It was an important day back in 1952.

"Wasn't that the day of your first arrest?" Dave asked.

Doc was startled by the familiar voice and spun around, almost knocking over a stack of oil cans. "Dave?" He choked up, more than a little shocked at his presence.

Dave smiled as Doc was met by two more familiar faces. "Sadie?"

He turned away from her and to the one in the middle, "Brian?" He was at a whisper now, this was overwhelming.

Doc drove up to Brian first, who's expression was stern and non forgiving. Doc sunk low on his shock, intimidated by Brian's look of disgust.

The townsfolk were confused. Who were these newcomers, and why was Doc acting so funny? Doc had always been known as the patriarch, the leader. But it wasn't long before everyone felt Brian's predominance.

They listened through the brief moment of silence for any sign of learning what was going on.

Faintly, they heard Brian speak through a tough voice, "So, this is where you decided to come after you ditched us?"

That question seemed to cause Doc some pain, they could tell that. "I'm sorry." Was all that Doc could offer through torn thoughts.

The townsfolk figured this wasn't going to be a happy reunion.

A smile found it's way to the three's faces, "We don't want your apologies Hudson, we're here to have a good time!" Dave finally blurted out, the three laughed.

Now the townsfolk were really confused. They were honestly more than a little curious.

Doc lit up in happiness, "I am so glad that you guys don't hate me..." He said in a sigh of relief.

"We never really hated you, we were just disappointed that you thought you couldn't come home." Dave told him.

Brian looked at Dave, "Wait, I was to blame partially for that..." He said, thinking that Doc might have been too scared to face him back in 1954. Sadie and Dave chuckled and agreed with Brian.

Doc was ecstatic, looking at each one of them. Taking in how they looked, smiled, laughed. He reflected on old memories, remembering everything great and fantastic all those years ago. Wondering how he lived without them for so long. After all, they still seemed to be his best friends, and the thought that he screwed up his life hurt more than it ever did.

Doc turned his attention to Dave, "Glad to see you haven't changed a bit." Dave still had the pure gold trimming on his frame like he had in the early 50's. He had gotten it done around the time he struck it rich. Where normally chrome would have gone, Dave had big thick plates of gold around him, complimenting his black fenders and maroon body.

While all the attention was still drawn on him, the townsfolk could see that this car was a businessman, a very rich businessman. "Hey, if you've got the money, show it." He chuckled.

Doc turned to Brian after chuckling along with Dave. "Keeping everyone in line?" He asked him.

"It gets difficult at times, but everyone's still sane..."

"You guys still living in South Carolina?" Doc asked, puzzled look given to them.

"Oh yeah, same house too. It still looks the same, Hudson, the house holding onto the 50's..."

"Good to know that you guys are keeping the '50's alive." He said proudly.

Doc then turned away from Brian to Sadie. "Still as pretty as ever. How have you been?"

Sadie smiled a little more at Doc's statement, "Looking good yourself. I've been fantastic, you?"

"I haven't been this happy since my first Piston Cup Trophy..."

A flash of deep cherry red caught Doc's attention. "What was that?" He asked, backing up from the three.

Dave and Brian looked at each other and smiled. Simultaneously, they threw themselves into reverse and pulled away to the sides of the road to reveal Laura.

In that exact moment, Doc forgot how to breathe as world around him blacked out and the only thing he saw was Laura's figure. In slow motion Doc watched a soft smile find it's way to Laura while he sat there in awe. Never, he thought, never in his wildest dreams...

Suddenly, he felt himself being shaken back into reality by a strange force. Everyone and everything around him came back into view when he found a very concerned Lightning beside him, nudging him.

"Doc, Doc breathe!" Lightning stressed.

It was as if someone had pushed the play button, everything resumed normal order as he drew a ragged breath and continued to search Laura for answers to unspoken questions.

"Oh, that's right," Brian said, gaining the attention of Doc as he stared at Laura. "It's Doctor now, isn't it?"

Laura took the liberty of driving up to Doc who was too stunned to move. She was glad to see his reaction.

Brian, on the other tire, was a little discouraged with it.

Laura drove up to Doc closely, "Couldn't ask for a better greeting." She teased.

Doc tried to speak, but found himself at a loss of words.

When Brian thought Doc couldn't handle a simple sentence, he sighed and cut in. "Aren't you going to introduce us to everyone?"

Doc finally took his sights off Laura and to the other three. He turned away from them and to the townsfolk. "This is Dave. He gave me my start into racing, he was my manager and sponsor."

"How do you do?" He offered with a smile.

Doc drove away from Dave and to Brian, "This is Brian. He was a my chief and trainer back in the day."

Immediate respect was given from Lightning to Brian, "It's an honor..."

Brian laughed slightly, "You think Hudson's a good trainer?"

"He's the best."

"He learned everything from me, kid."

Doc chuckled as he moved onto where Sadie sat, "This is Sadie, Brian's wife."

She met eye contact with all of them and nodded.

Laura pulled up along side of Doc. He nervously laughed and they smiled at each other. "And this... is the lovely Laura."

She playfully nudged him and drove away from Doc to catch up with Dave and Sadie who were about to get to know the locals.

Doc sighed as he watched her leave.

It was then that Brian turned to face him, he didn't leave with the others. "Don't get too attached..."

Doc looked at him, "Pardon?"

"She's married, Hudson."

Right then and there Doc felt more than a few dreams crushed at that simple statement.

He tried to find the words to ask his next question, but Brian read his mind. "She's just here to visit you, nothing more."

Doc swallowed hard, that one stung. "Who's the lucky guy?"

Brian stiffened where he sat and sighed, "A guy named John. He's a good guy, treats her right. Although I never particularly made friends with him..."

Doc didn't look Brian in the eye as he said that.

The two sat there watching everyone talk and get along. Doc decided that his position with Laura wouldn't put a damper on this fantastic reunion. "How long are you guys staying?"

"Two weeks, is that alright?"

Doc was quick to respond, "More than alright, stay as long as you want."

"I'm gonna find out what everyone's like, they seem colorful..."

Doc laughed, "They are."

Brian kicked on his engine and met up with the group he came with.

Doc sat there in the middle of the street watching his old friends get to know his new ones. He glanced around the landscape, the sun was setting fast. The golden valley went on for miles, endlessly. It reminded him just how much of his life he wasted in this town, it seemed like forever.

It was then that he realized that he didn't.

These residents meant everything to him just as well. When the day comes for his old life to leave his current, it would be one horrible goodbye. But at least this time he would get to say goodbye, something he didn't get to do back in 1954 that one evening. He never knew how his old friends were doing all these years, and it pained him each day.

Every once in a while he thought about calling them up and finding out, but that would create a lot of awkwardness.

Doc glanced at each one of his old friends, they seemed to be doing well and in good health.

Through all the excitement, he noticed something was missing. Where was Joanna? Where were James and Mason? He had taken a complete guess at Sadie being Brian's wife, but it seemed logical that it would happen after all these years.

Doc also noticed another flaw, Brian appeared to be hiding something. Doc may not have seen him in a long time, but Brian seemed as if he hasn't changed his personality one bit. If Brian was the same car from what Doc knew of him, something was definitely wrong here...

Doc shrugged it off. He had two weeks to hear about all that's happened in the last fifty two years... It was no big deal...


	2. Chapter 2

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them. Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER TWO**

Everyone took their places in one of the slots of Flo's Cafe once everyone got to know each other.

Doc and Lightning parked opposite of Sadie, Brian, Laura and Dave so that they could have a better conversation.

The sun was now gone, and the night's clouds began to grow into a deep purple as the stars began to appear. The neon lights of Flo's kicked on, lighting up the entire cafe. Dave sighed as a pleasant breeze rolled in.

At their brief moment of silence, attention was drawn to him. Doc's mind was caught off guard by something sparkling on Dave. He looked down at his old friend across the cafe and at his tires. A puzzled look was immediately given to him. "Dave?"

"Yeah?"

"Are those... diamonds... on your rims?"

Everyone looked at Dave and at his tires as he smiled and pushed one of his tires out so that he, himself, could examine it.

"Why yes," He said, turning the tire from side to side, "They are diamonds. Got them last week, glad _someone _noticed." He stated, glancing at Brian who was next to him.

Brian rolled his eyes, "Dave, you know you don't need those diamonds..."

"Does it matter to you?"

The diamonds imbedded on Dave's rims weren't huge, and they certainly weren't the clusters of extremely small ones. They were decently sized, and they actually looked good. The neon lights of the cafe lit up the diamonds in an extraordinary way, brightening up his chrome hubcaps and giving his whitewall tires a new fancy posh look. His tires complimented his gold plated trimming that reflected onto his ebony fenders. From there, his black fenders worked well with his glossy maroon basecoat. Dave was one sharp car, and it showed.

While everyone's attention was still on Dave, Lightning leaned closer to Doc who was next to him, "Just _how_ rich is he?"

"Loaded..." Doc answered with emphasis.

Lightning was still not convinced, "Like how rich?" He asked, thinking he could beat Dave at his own game.

Doc seemed to think on that a moment, finally he answered. "He makes more money in two months than you make in one year."

Lightning rolled back in surprise. He made good money being a racer, and for Dave to make more than him that easily was something that blew his mind away.

"Kid, he worked hard to get where he is today. He takes pride in all the companies he owns..."

Doc and Lightning's mini conversation ended and their attention was turned to Brian who might be brewing up an argument with Dave.

To Doc's amazement, Brian quickly dropped his feud with Dave and turned to Sadie. "Would you please get the cases out of my trunk?"

The residents and Lightning were confused about Brian's request, but Doc, Dave and Laura knew; they signed in discouragement.

Brian popped the trunk just as Sadie threw herself into reverse from his side to the back. A few moments later, Sadie slammed the trunk lid and returned to her parking spot between Brian and Laura with two different case of liquor. The larger case being filled with mild liquor. The smaller, which seemed to be only good enough for two cars, was the strongest type there was.

"I think this causes for a little celebration. Don't you, Hudson?" Brian asked, opening the bigger liquor case.

Doc sighed heavily but smiled, "Yes, it does..."

Brian took the liberty of delivering Doc's drink himself.

Lightning looked at Doc in disbelief as he took it from Brian, "Doc, I didn't know you drank."

"There's a lot you don't know, kid."

Brian backed up into his parking spot between Dave and Sadie, "That's right, there's a lot you don't know." He said, passing a drink to Dave and Laura.

It was then that the smaller, stronger liquor case was opened. Two drinks were produced. One for Brian, and one for Sadie.

Brian offered some of the mild ones to the residents, but they graciously denied it. They were more concerned about having two rowdy drunks swerving around town at the end of the night rather than enjoying a drink of their own. They were occupied with learning about who these four new cars were, and what they were like.

As Sadie and Brian drank, Sheriff leaned closer from opposite of them to try and read just how strong of liquor they were drinking. When he read the amount, his eyes widened in shock.

He got worried about Sadie, who had his attention the whole night. "Don't you think that's a little much?" He asked Sadie.

She put her drink down to answer, but Brian beat her to it and began his sentence. "She can hold her liquor better than anyone I know. I'll bet you for all that you're worth that she can drink the entire case and still drive straighter than you."

Sheriff sank where he sat, he didn't dare question Brian on that.

He was just glad to see more classic cars like himself around town for once. It was nice to know that Dave, Brian and Sadie were from the same year he was made in. He was glad to see others like himself, and he was even more glad to know that they still kept their whitewalls. They had the same ones he did.

Doc chuckled softly, Brian was still his old self. That thought was a reassuring sign that these next two weeks would be good ones.

Doc looked up from his drink after listening to Brian shut Sheriff up, "So Brian, what made you guys come here?"

Brian scoffed, "What else for? I thought you'd catch on by now, guess not. You're the one who got our attention, Hudson."

Doc smiled, he had asked an obvious question. It was apparent that his drink was already getting to him. "How'd you guys find me?" Doc asked as he looked at each of them.

This time, the four laughed out loud.

Brian settled down first and spoke for the others, "You were on TV, idiot. Damn..."

Doc rolled his eyes in disbelief, how could he have forgotten that? Maybe his drink was getting to him faster than he thought. He pushed it away in disgust.

Lightning joined in their little laugh, "Yeah Doc, when you went on TV, it was a bit welcoming banner."

Doc sighed as Brian approached him, "I'm gonna have to take this drink away from you now. Bad things happen when you do..."

Doc's eyes widened at that statement as Brian drove away with his drink. He remembered that night in 1954 like it was happening right in front of him all over again.

He glanced at Laura who seemed to be saddened by the same thought. She sat there, gazing at the ground like it would supply her with some of comfort.

Doc wanted desperately to beg for her mercy, but that would do little good now. He had wasted her time all those years before. Now it was simply just a haunting memory, along with the other regret of never making things right with his other friends sitting there with him tonight.

Doc was still watching her sad appearance when all of a sudden she looked up at him. She had apparently felt the force of his stare.

Doc quickly looked away, trying to find something else to keep his attention.

Dave sighed, unaware of Doc and Laura's little trade-off, "But boy, Hudson, when Brian saw you on the TV, he about his the damn roof! I had to leave work and see it for myself!" Dave sighed again as he remembered more of that day, "Yeah, it really was history in the making..." Doc grinned as Dave nudged Brian with one tire, "That was the best day ever, wasn't it?"

Brian smiled softly, "Careful Dave, don't mess up your rims."

Dave laughed, "Please, these rims were cheap..."

"Dave, what ever's cheap for you splits everyone else's engines in two."

"Hey, I offered to get you a set of them." He said, looking over his tires to make sure all of the diamonds were there.

"No thanks, I'd rather not look like a rich prick..." Brian was still the good looking guy from the 50's. His appearance of black fenders and dark green body hadn't changed one bit.

Dave took Brian's statement offensively. He looked at Doc for help, "I don't look like a rich prick, do I Hudson?"

Doc looked Dave up and down. Now that Brian mentioned it, it really did. But Doc wasn't going to admit that and bring Dave down. "Giving to charity's an option."

Dave cringed, "Is it that bad?" Doc gave a somewhat sheepish smile and Dave got the hint. "Yeah well, I earned it..."

"Don't doubt that you did Dave, but it's a little much."

"Anyone who doesn't like it can shove it." Dave took a moment to give a quick laugh, "Don't hate the player, hate the game."

Brian rolled his eyes, "Don't even..."

"What did I do?"

"That's nonsense, stop that."

"I'm rich and I'm proud--"

"Just because you can get away with bragging back in South Carolina, doesn't give you the right to do it here."

Doc decided to join back in, "Yeah, you might look like a rich prick, but it'd be nice if you didn't become one."

Dave yawned and silently agreed. "Well, I think we did enough talking tonight..."

Doc jumped awake and looked at the clock, one thirty in the morning. "Where are my manners? You'll be staying at the Cozy Cone right over there." He said, looking across the street.

Dave, Laura and Sadie started their engines as Sally led them over to the Motel.

Brian stayed behind to pick up the empty bottles while the townsfolk left for their homes.

Doc sat there, watching the three as Sally gave them each a cone. He watched as Dave paid her, and how her eyes widened at the large amount she received. Doc chuckled softly as Brian pulled up beside him after throwing everything away.

He quickly picked up on what Doc had seen and smiled, "Did Dave pay for the two weeks in advance?"

Doc nodded, "Most likely."

"He probably gave her extra, too."

The two sat there in the cafe in silence for some time.

Eventually, Brian started his engine, "I'm pretty tired myself, it was a long trip..."

He started to leave and head for his own cone when Doc called out to him, "Hey, Brian?"

Brian turned back to look at him, "Yeah?"

Doc took a moment before he spoke, "Who's idea was it to come visit?"

Brian drove a little closer back to Doc until Flo's neon lights showed his face to him. "It was mine." He said flatly, expecting some sort of confrontation.

Doc sighed heavily, he didn't want Brian to get defensive. "Are you glad you came?"

Brian looked at Doc respectively, "I can't answer that yet, Hudson."

Doc seemed to be discouraged by that. He began to remember the other personality traits that Brian had, and it seemed like he had to start his whole friendship with him over again. Doc sunk low where he sat and avoided eye contact.

Brian did the opposite, he sat there proud and determined. If Doc wasn't going to show some dignity, someone had to. "I don't know how much you've changed over the years, but I can honestly say that you turned out to be a good guy." Doc still didn't bother to look at Brian, instead he sighed.

Brian rolled his eyes again, "Hudson, before you start getting all depressed about the current situation, and how you feel horrible about your little screw up, take a look around you, what do you see?"

Doc looked around the empty town through the darkness. He kept himself quiet so that Brian would continue. "You've got friends that love you, friends that always have. I don't believe for one second that you'd trade this life away for something else."

Doc finally looked Brian in the eye as he spoke, "You may not have been with us all your life like you probably planned on, but don't you dare tell me that you regret living here."

Doc opened his mouth to speak, but Brian cut him off. "I'd like for you to try and prove me wrong, Hudson. Because if you do, this whole trip will have been for nothing." Brian threw himself into reverse and towards the Cozy Cone before Doc could get the last word in.

Doc let Brian's little speech soak in as he sat there alone in the cafe. Everything he had said was true, he thanked his lucky stars all the time for the life he led here.

Doc took the liberty of turning Flo's neon lights off as Brian backed up into his cone and shut the door. He drove back to his office in deep thought, completely changed he was.

He didn't know how he was going to get any sleep.


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER THREE**

Doc groaned as he slowly began to wake up from a rough night. He managed to get a measly three hours of sleep, and his midnight drink wasn't helping.

He tried to open his eyes, but the bright morning light shining through his office's windows blinded him like a searchlight. Suddenly he remembered why he hated drinking.

Doc blinked a couple of times to clear his vision. His eyes took a while to adjust to the light, it was a bit too much for him right now.

He glanced around the office, it seemed surreal to him, almost like a dream.

Through the silence, someone knocked on his door with a heavy force.

Doc winced in pain, the banging echoed through his mind over and over again like thunder. It hurt, he couldn't stand the pounding.

He looked at the clock, eleven forty five, almost noon.

Great, he thought, I overslept...

Doc quickly turned on his engine to answer the door. He cracked it open, only to be greeted by an even more powerful presentation of the outside world's natural lighting; the sun was high in the sky.

In the middle of the glare, a large red figure sat parked in the doorway. The red car seemed to be surrounded by a haze, though that was only because Doc's vision decided to quit on him again.

For a moment he thought it was Laura, but it turned out to be Lightning.

Doc sighed, he would much rather be woken up by the love of his life, not a chipper young rookie. "What do you want?" Doc asked through a strained voice.

Lightning lost his smile, "What do I want? I came to tell you that your guests have been waiting for you at Flo's all morning..."

Lightning may not have been Laura, but Doc was glad that Dave didn't come to get him. He was especially grateful that Brian hadn't either. He closed his eyes and sighed heavily to relax. "I'll be out in a few minutes..." He told him.

Lightning switched into reverse to go back and give everyone an update while Doc silently rolled back into the corner of his office. Sleep was what he wanted, but he could do that tonight.

Once more he sighed and put on a happy face while he summoned enough strength to head towards the cafe.

Approaching the large group of seventeen anxious cars, he wished he had gathered up the nerve to face them. Not once from the time he moved to Radiator Springs did he ever do something like this.

"There you are!" Dave boomed, "Do you always sleep in this late?"

"No, never." Doc told him, finding a place to park. To ignore the stares, Doc closed his eyes.

It was Dave's perky little attitude that brought him out of his afternoon misery. "So, what are we doing today?" He asked.

Doc forcefully opened his eyes to look at him, he had to put a face on the voice so that it didn't hurt to think on it. Even though Doc felt horrible, he wasn't going to take it out on his friends.

In a nice tone, he softly spoke, "I figure I'd show you around town, then we'll go from there."

Now Doc felt woozy, the world around him seemed to tilt up and down the more he tried to regain focus.

Brian laughed when he saw his expression. "You gonna be okay to go anywhere?"

Doc managed to look Brian's way, "I'll be fine..."

Brian knew he would, but that might take a while. He didn't take any chances, "Flo, would you please give Hudson a can of oil?"

She didn't hesitate on Brian's request. Quietly, she placed one in front of Doc and returned to Ramone's side. Doc gently took it, happy for the first time this morning. He was surprised, it actually helped.

Laura laughed lightly as she watched Doc sink to the pavement on his shocks. She felt bad for him, but there was nothing else anyone could do for him. "Feeling better?"

Her soothing voice brought Doc out of his agony. For some reason everything felt peaceful, like the whole world was at ease.

Her words lulled him into an entirely different state of happiness. A smile found it's way to Doc, "Much better, thank you..." He was just glad to know that Laura didn't hate him after all these years. She had every right to let him have it, but he guessed it was the fact that she was now happily married to John that kept her at bay.

Doc finished off his can of oil and cranked on his engine, it had a more fluent sound. "You guys ready to go?"

"We've been ready." Sadie stated, but it wasn't harsh.

It's not like Sadie, Laura, Dave and Brian didn't have anyone else to talk to, but they were here to see Doc, not the townsfolk.

Doc slowly rolled out of the cafe and the four followed closely. Lightning decided to tag along. He found the newcomers quite interesting, and he wanted to know everything about Doc's past. He figured his little group of friends were the keen source to getting answers, and a lot of them.

Up to Tailfin Pass, and towards Cadillac Range is where Doc showed the group all of the landmarks. Some interesting history was offered before they headed back into town to go to Ornament Valley.

The long drive back to the city limits was long and mostly silent. The four were mainly enjoying looking at the things that they didn't get to see before when driving up the mountain.

It was then that Dave sighed sadly. Doc heard this and fell back a couple of paces so that he was directly beside him on the road. Lightning lead the way for the time being. "What's wrong?" Doc asked.

"Ahh, it's nothing." Was Dave's simple answer.

Brian joined the conversation on Dave's right side, "He's just sad that he doesn't have time to enjoy the little things in life..."

"What do you mean?" Doc asked Brian, looking past Dave.

Dave cut in front of Doc so that he could answer, not Brian. "He means that I'm too busy with my job to buy that villa in Mexico like I've always wanted..."

Brian pushed Dave back into the middle so that he could talk to Doc, "A vacation would do Dave justice."

"Wouldn't this be considered a vacation?"

"Exactly." He told him, then looked at Dave, "This is exactly what you need."

Dave scoffed, "I'm fine."

"Oh, so being cooped up in that office of yours at the company is the last thing you want to see before you die?"

"No..."

"Then retire, damn it."

"I can't!" Dave boomed, drawing a flinch from Doc. "Sorry..."

Brian turned his attention back to Doc, "He refuses to hand over the company's title to his apprentice..."

"He's not ready yet." Dave insisted, staring at the road in front of him.

"He's been working by your side since 1984, I think he's ready. He's ready because you trained him."

"Look, I've worked too hard to get the company where it is today. The company is perfect right now, and it always has been under my command. Anyone who works there will tell you that I'm the one who keeps the place in order."

"But it won't always stay perfect." Doc reminded him.

"I'm not ready to let the company go--"

"Dave, it's time you enjoyed life. The company is stealing it, hell, it already has." Brian added.

"But, it's mine... and... I want it to stay mine."

"Damn it Dave, choose!"

"It's not that simple!"

Brian rolled his eyes, "What's your apprentice's name?"

"Shane."

Brian had a questionable look on his face, "Really? I thought it was Mitch?"

"No, no I fired him... he was evil..."

Brian and Doc exchanged a confused look before returning to the conversation. Finally, Brian spoke, "Okay, so don't you want Shane to be happy?"

"Of course, he's a great guy."

"Then make his life complete, and sign the company over to him."

Dave sighed, "I'll think about it."

The three resumed the single file order down the road, they decided to drop the conversation. They could always talk about it later.

Town was around the corner, they'd be in Ornament Valley once they went through it. They could see the residents doing their daily chores as they rolled through.

Suddenly, Lightning veered left.

Doc quickly caught up to him, curious in the change of directions. "What are you doing?" He asked.

Lightning didn't bother looking at him, "Thought we'd show them Willy's Butte."

Doc began to fade back while Lightning drove on ahead of him. He started to think about it. He was sure that the rookie would want to see The Fabulous Hudson Hornet's crew chief tear up the dirt, or possibly show him up.

The four behind Doc caught up to him. "What's going on?" Brian asked.

"The kid wants to show you something..." Doc said as they came to a stop behind Lightning on the edge of the cliff.

Brian wanted to know what was going on. He drove up next to Lightning and matched his gaze on what the valley's floor held. "Oh, got yourself a dirt track, eh?"

Lightning grinned, "Yep."

Brian looked him up and down while he continued to marvel at the makeshift track below. "Has Hudson been teaching you how to race on dirt?"

Lightning smiled and nodded, "It's fun."

That simple statement brought back good memories from a time once forgotten, the days of red dirt racing. Most famous racers these days didn't even know what red dirt racing was, and Brian felt good knowing that Doc was keeping himself in touch with it and keep the tradition alive.

Red dirt racing was a passion, not a career.

Brian watched as the rookie slowly rolled down off the cliff and to the track. Doc was a bit agitated as he replaced the spot next to Brian where Lightning had just been.

Dave, Laura and Sadie held a conversation between themselves at the moment.

"What's going on?" Doc asked.

"I don't know yet..." Brian told him. After a moment, he himself drove down the cliff to join Lightning. The rookie was hoping he'd follow him in curiosity.

Doc exhaled sharply, did the kid feel like making a fool out of himself on the second day?

Doc decided he better go down there and try to put a stop to what ever scheme Lightning was brewing.

Brian was admiring the little track, Lightning was trying to psyche himself up silently behind him.

Doc saw this as he drove up to Brian, a look of disgust on his face.

Brian was still studying the dirt and it's texture, not caring about Doc's presence. He rubbed a tire back and forth across the dirt in approval. He looked up at Doc who had patiently waited for him. "It gives me chills." He said, a warming smile followed.

He lost that smile when he saw Doc's scowl, "What's wrong?"

Doc sighed, "It's the kid..." He whispered.

"What about him?"

"Nothing, he's just--" Doc cut himself off when he figured out that Brian wasn't listening to him, he was turning around to face the kid. Doc sighed and pulled up on Brian's right side so he could hear the conversation better.

"What are you doing kid?" Brian asked.

"I don't know..." Lightning said, pulling away from them slowly.

Brian knew what he wanted, he wanted a race. He looked at Doc for his take on the situation. He was, after all, Lightning's trainer.

Doc only rolled his eyes and smiled, "Just do enough to shut him up..."

Brian chuckled, "Oh c'mon, I wanted to have fun!"

"Go easy on him."

"I'll try."

Doc and Brian silently drove up to Lightning who was waiting at the starting line.

"A race it is..." Brian told the kid.

Lightning looked at him, "One lap?"

"That won't be enough time for you to catch up to me." Brian taunted.

Doc laughed lightly, "Kid, what makes you think that you could beat my old trainer if you can't even beat me?"

Lightning gave Doc a somewhat hurtful look, "Thanks... for the encouragement."

Doc shrugged on his shocks, "I tell it how it is..."

Lightning snapped, "Well, you're not the one racing right now, are you?"

Doc frowned, "Hey--"

Brian cut him off, "Now now, easy children. Let's save the trash talk for later. Let's get this race over with." He turned to Lightning, "You sure you want to race?"

"Yes sir." He answered, staring at the track in front of him.

"You're _absolutely_ sure?" Brian asked once more.

Lightning continued to look at the straightaway, "Yes sir."

Brian looked at Doc who was still next to him with a shocked look, "Ahh, you not only taught him how to race on dirt, you taught him manners."

"I do my best..." Doc told him.

Lightning changed his attention to the two older cars sitting next to him, "What's that supposed to mean?"

Brian scoffed, "Oh please, I saw your interviews..."

"What about my interviews?" Lightning asked, shifting to face him.

"Don't worry about it..." Brian said as he cranked his engine on.

"No, really!"

Brian revved his engine louder and laughed, "Can't hear you kid!"

Lightning frowned and turned on his engine as well while Doc drove back up the cliff to meet up with Dave, Laura and Sadie.

Even though Doc didn't want Lightning to be so pushy when it came to racing, he was extremely anxious to see the outcome of this. It had been too many years since he'd seen Brian race, and no telling how many tricks or maneuvers he had learned and gained.

Brian looked at Lightning while their engines got ready to go, "You know, I may not be as fast as I used to be..."

"Why's that?" Lightning asked, even though he thought it was because of his age.

"To tell you the truth, the alcohol has gotten to my engine all these years. I'm not exactly running healthy... Care to cut me a break this time around?"

Lightning saw the slight flash of a gleam in Brian's eye and grinned, "Not a chance..." Brian may have been an older car, but none the less, the kid didn't lower his guard.

Brian smirked, "Smart boy."

Doc rolled to the edge of the cliff. The three others close behind him; they were interested. "Alright! You guys ready to stop talking and race?" Doc yelled down to them.

A quick roar of both of the racers' engines signaled they were ready to go.

Doc started the countdown, and they were off in a flash.

Their tires finally gripping the solid ground below the loose dirt and they surged forward.

Lightning had a chance at moving to the inside where Brian was, but he found himself watching a blur of green blocking his path. Lightning got engulfed in a huge trail of dust. He quickly moved out of it to see where he was going.

The first turn was coming up fast. He could now see Brian's full form as they drove side by side up the wall. Lightning did his best to keep his eye on his opponent, but found it risky, and too hard.

They slid off the wall and onto the second straightaway.

Here's where Lightning found himself vulnerable, he had to do all he could to maintain the slight lead he had on Brian.

Brian fell back a few inches without warning, and Lightning was alone for that quick moment.

He looked to his left, only to see that the green racer had taken the inside almost as quickly as he had disappeared from his right side.

How he had done that so smoothly, the kid didn't know. All that mattered now was the final turn, and it was coming up fast.

Lightning gave it all he had, but he was pushing past the normal sane speed for entering this turn. He quickly backed off, afraid of loosing control.

To his amazement, Brian upheld the crazy speed and kept going. The kid tilted his frame in unison with Brian, hoping that he could make up some time. He did everything he could to close the gap between them.

Lightning wasn't paying attention... He was abruptly cut off by the older racer when he tried to pass him, and began to spin wildly away from the track.

Brian remained un-phased, like their brief contact on the turn hadn't happened. He exited the turn still in full speed and crossed the finish line just the same.

Lightning sat there as Brian began to slow to a stop, completely still and at a loss of words. He breathed heavy, it felt like a harder race than he's ever experienced.

Brian rejoined the four as they came down the cliff to talk to him about his win.

The kid watched them. The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. Brian was _out-dated_, so to speak, so why was he so calm and relaxed, when he himself was tired? He had been at his top speed the entire time, that never happened when racing with Doc.

He slowly pulled up to the group who had apparently just had a quick laugh. Disgusted, he started to leave, "Let's go, let's get back to town..." He mumbled.

Brian reversed himself to look at the red stock car, "Where do you think you're going?"

"Away from here?" He asked sarcastically.

"Kid, what did you expect was gonna happen? You're still fresh on dirt racing, and I'm a--"

"I know you're an expert racer, okay?" Lightning stated, his ego more than a little hurt. He thought he had him beat. Brian had given up racing a long time ago.

Brian was a little mad, "You better get your fender back here and cross that finish line! I don't associate with sore losers!"

Lightning sighed and went back to drive across the finish line rope. The five classic cars watched him, glad he was cooperating.

Once done, Lightning drove up to Brian, still stunned by his magnificent performance only minutes ago. "Just one question?"

"Sure." He told him, full attention given.

"I thought you said that the alcohol got to you?"

Brian smiled, "It did."


	4. Chapter 4

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER FOUR**

Driving back to the cafe, Lightning was in complete silence. He began to fall back in the lineup on the old dirt road as everyone else moved on passed him.

Doc excused himself from the conversation he was in with the others to fade back in place so that he was side by side with the Lightning. "What's wrong kid, still mad?"

Lightning rolled his eyes and banked from left to right beside Doc, "I'm not mad, never was. I'm just confused."

Doc looked at him deeply, "I know what you mean... Brian's performance was a little hard to believe."

Now Lightning was even more confused, "Huh?"

"Brian's engine isn't as good as it used to be, we all know that. In meaning by _we_ I mean Dave, Laura, Sadie and I--"

"I know what you meant, I'm not stupid Doc."

Doc too his eyes off the road and looked at Lightning sharply, "If you continue to be rude boy--"

"Sorry..."

Doc sighed, "It's alright."

Finally Lightning took place next to Doc as they drove together for a better conversation, "So, why does Brian's race give you reason to question?"

"Well, I'm beginning to think it's just his talent at it's best. I mean, Brian's always been the best racer I've ever known. And I bet if he raced for money back in the day instead of training others, he would have been better off." Doc explained.

"So, what are you saying?" Lightning asked, trying to lead up something he didn't want to bring up on his own.

"It's been exactly fifty two years, enough time for him to continue to improve his great racing abilities and techniques..."

"Yeah, but fifty two years is also a long time for liquor to destroy an engine." There, he finally said it.

It was Doc's turn to offer a puzzled look, "What?"

"Right before we raced, he said--" Lightning cut off his sentence.

"What? He said what?"

The kid looked at the ground as he and Doc followed the other four. "It's none of my business... but how long has Brian been drinking?"

Doc looked around him while he went into thought, "I dunno, it appears he never stopped."

"So, what do you suppose that means?" Doc shrugged and Lightning continued, "It means he probably got rebuilt in some form or another."

That suggest sparked Doc's imagination. He had a point, and it made sense. "I'll ask about it... but in the mean time, just think about how good a race it was if he still had all of his original engine."

That thought made Lightning a little uneasy. If Brian still had his original, it hurt to think about how good he'd be with a tuned up engine. Lightning tried not to think about it, he had a long time to improve.

After all, there's only so much you can do to an engine before that car becomes someone totally different.

Another question popped up in Lightning's mind, "Hey Doc, you plan on racing Brian?"

Doc laughed, "He's not leaving until he does."

By now, Doc's old friends had claimed a spot at Flo's, and they took them as they pulled into the cafe. The classics and Lightning turned off their engines as they settled down.

Brian sighed and looked at each of them, "Drinks, anyone?"

Doc grew suspicious. Something was wrong here, something definitely was. He looked at Brian who was across from him in the cafe bringing out the liquor cases from last night.

Dave, who was apparently annoyed by Brian's actions, decided to get up and drive off out of the place where the town was gathered. He wanted to be alone for some reason.

As Dave passed him, Doc heard a heavy sigh escape him.

Doc zoned everyone else's chattering out as he continued to watch Dave park in front of the lobby of the Cozy Cone.

He heard Dave turn off his engine as he idly began to look around at the world around him. When Dave found something that appeared to make him at least somewhat happy, he settled down and started to gaze at the setting sun.

Doc saw this as an opportunity to get answers from him.

He ducked out of an oncoming conversation and snuck up behind Dave, "Hey."

Dave lashed around, "Damn you scared me..."

"Sorry about that."

"No, no it's alright." He said as he resumed his admiration of the sunset. Dave sighed again, he figured Doc was still sitting there in silence for a reason. "What you need, Hudson?" He asked, his eyes never leaving the mountain range.

Doc pulled up beside his longtime friend, "I just had a question for you, if that's alright."

Dave was discouraged. There were many questions that Doc had for him, it's been too long since they've seen each other. The possibilities were endless. "About what?"

"About Brian."

Dave tensed, "His engine?"

"Yeah..." Doc told him, now looking at the ground.

"Well... I had a feeling this would come up sometime. When we were watching him and the kid race, I knew what you were thinking of."

"So what's the deal?"

Dave shifted to one side of his frame and breathed in deep, "In 1978, things took a turn for the worse..." Doc shivered, Dave had said that so remorsefully.

He was almost too afraid to ask for an explanation, but he had to know. "What happened?"

Dave too a moment, but began. "You may or may not know, but Brian never stopped drinking. As a doctor, I'm sure you'll know information like that just isn't a good thing, right?"

Doc nodded, and Dave continued, "Well, in 1978, Brian's engine quit on him, it had enough and finally it flat out gave up." Dave sighed, "The doctors told us that he wasn't going to make it. Brian came so close to dying..."

Dave breathed out sharply, "It was the scariest thing, Hudson." Dave's voice was hollow now, surreal almost. "Everyone thought it was over, that he was gone. The feeling of emptiness was too powerful. Life... was just remorseful."

Doc remained silent as Dave tried to continue.

Dave grew tense and sat balanced on all four tires as if he wanted to inflict pain on the next little thing to get in his way. "For three damn months," Dave started, his voice filled with anger, "For three damn months everyone and I waited to hear the impending news of our best friend's death..."

Doc gave Dave a look of question. Without glancing over at Doc, Dave knew he was confused. "It took the doctors three months to decide Brian's fate. When ever he showed signs of improvement, Brian would suddenly start to fail again..."

Dave began to calm down, but then his hatred returned, "I told that prick to stop drinking... but he insisted that he was fine. He just didn't give a damn about what I had to say, and it cost him big time."

He looked at Doc, "Hudson, the doctors rebuilt him more than 50 percent. They did all they could before Brian turned into someone else."

Doc knew that was true. If they had given him a totally new engine, Brian would no longer be himself.

Dave slammed a tire on the ground that shook Doc from his thoughts, "He didn't even care about all the hell and suffering he put us through! Sadie still thinks about it, so does Laura. And so did James and Mason, but..." Dave's voice trailed off so that Doc wouldn't hear his last sentence.

"You remember Colton, don't you Hudson?"

"Sure do." Doc told him, reflecting on the night Brian told him about Colton.

"Well," Dave started, "In his case, Colton was already doomed. Once the fire started, there was nothing any doctor could do. But Brian had a fighting chance, and he fought. He fought for his life, and he turned out alright."

"Dave, you don't still feel guilty about Brian's drinking habit, do you?"

Dave shot Doc a glare, "It's kinda hard not to." Dave turned his engine on and kicked into reverse, "C'mon let's get back to the cafe, we look suspicious." Dave pulled away and Doc followed. "By the way, Hudson, this conversation _never _happened..."

They pulled up in front of Flo's and were immediately met by some stares.

Lightning drove up to Doc as Dave went over to talk to the other classics who were questioning his little disappearance. "So, Doc, what happened? Did you find out Brian's secret?"

Doc sighed, "Yeah, I did. You were right, it is none of your business."

Lightning didn't know whether or not to take that offensively, so he took it in stride, "It was a lucky guess. Anyone who drinks that much means there's no good new at the end." He said, slight laugh given.

Doc frowned at him, "It's no laughing matter, kid." He then drove off to his regular spot at the cafe, leaving Lightning behind.

"Awe, I didn't mean anything by it!" He called out to him, briefly drawing the attention of Sheriff.

"Boy, what's going on now?" He asked.

"I don't know, ask Doc..." He said, pulling up in his place next to the grumpy town doctor.

Brian rolled his eyes, "We don't need any secrets floating around this town. Now what's the problem?" He asked Doc, who refused to acknowledge the kid's presence.

For a reason he very well understood, Doc couldn't bring himself to look Brian in the eye.

Brian's near death experience changed his thinking about him. The world wouldn't be good at all without him, and he couldn't imagine all the pain endured during Brian's stay in the hospital. That car was extremely lucky to get out of that situation.

Brian moved forward slightly, "You guys okay?"

Doc wanted to tell him that he wasn't. But Dave had said not to mention the conversation, and he was going to obey him.

Doc smiled and looked at Lightning, "Yeah, everything's fine, right kid?"

Lightning didn't know what caused Doc's sudden change in behavior, but he didn't question it. "Yeah, everything's fine..."

Somehow, he thought, somehow I'll weasel the information out of him...

The sun disappeared behind the mountain range, and Dave's little cling to hope was gone with it. He pretty much gave up when Brian began talking about life back in South Carolina.

Brian smirked, "Hey Dave build me a bar."

"Surly you don't mean here in Radiator Springs..." He offered, trying to suppress his rising fury in the pitiful drink that takes lives and corrupts friendships.

"No, of course not here. This town is too innocent... I mean back in South Carolina..."

"The bar in the middle of town not good enough?" He snapped. He was thankful that no one noticed his flash of temper.

That was, everyone except Laura. She gave Dave a reasruring nudge with one tire followed by a thoughtful look. Dave could only accept it through pained eyes.

It was only a matter of time before Brian's engine failed again.


	5. Chapter 5

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER FIVE**

He felt lonely, like the whole world was empty as he sat there in the dark.

Brian looked up into the night's sky without a care. He had came out here hoping he could forget about the situation at hand, and that maybe he could use this time to relax. The stars amused him.

He chuckled softly, amazed by the endless quantity of the little lights in the darkness above him.

He sighed, he couldn't remember the last time he enjoyed moments like this. It had been a while since he admired the small things in life, the unnoticed details that made it grand.

He stopped stargazing and returned his attention to the ground. He had parked himself at the back of the Cozy Cone under the trees so that he was hidden from everything else around him.

He shifted casually trying to settle down. How he had escaped his cone without waking Sadie up, he didn't know. But he did, and here he was.

The texture of the dirt he rested on reminded him of the race earlier today. He shook that thought immediately, he wasn't out here to question that event.

With the town gone to bed, the surrounding area had became deathly quiet. Not even the crickets decided to play. The silence was something Brian needed right now.

To his surprise, Brian heard the muffled sound of an engine fire up. He looked around the moonlit town to try and spot the direction of the engine's owner.

He rolled back into the shadows of the trees to avoid being seen by who ever it was.

The mystery was solved when out of a solid concrete structure came Doc from his office.

The silence returned as Doc shut off his engine and parked just outside his double doors. It was quiet enough for him to hear Doc sigh impatiently.

Brian got an idea, and it made him smile.

He flashed his headlights for a split second, only enough to grab Doc's curiosity.

The quick bright light sent out to him like a beacon, and slowly Doc started up his engine to roll over to where the flash had came from. He wandered around the Cozy Cone's lot until he spotted a suspicious looking place.

He inched towards the tree line cautiously, unsure about the outcome of this game. In the shadows, he saw an unnatural outlining of a jet black image sitting perfectly motionless.

It startled him, but he showed some sort of bravery. "Who is this?" He asked, hoping his eyes would adjust to help reveal the pitch black form in front of him.

In an instant, Brian turned on his headlights to blind Doc where he sat. He winced and shut his eyes tight, "Cut that out!" He demanded.

Brian snickered, his headlights' beams bouncing up and down as he laughed, "Sorry, couldn't help myself." He then turned of the lights for him after having his fun.

"What are you doing out here so late, Brian?" Doc asked, recognizing the speaker's voice. He blinked rapidly, trying to get his eyes readjusted to the night.

"I'm just enjoying my spare time. Why, what about you? Couldn't sleep again?"

"Well, part of the reason. Mind if I join you out here?"

As much as Brian didn't want company right now, he couldn't deny quality time with his best friend. "I don't care."

Doc did his best to find his way through the trees until he could circle around and pull up next to him. When he finally did, he turned off his engine.

That's when Brian spoke, "Remember, silence is golden."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sunlight, he could feel it. It was feint, but it was there.

"Doc, Doc wake up."

Doc growled softly, "Not now..." He told the voice, not caring who it was attached to. He sank on his tires as they shifted on the ground.

Doc's eyes shot open, dirt? What was he doing on dirt? He looked at his surroundings, he was outside.

How'd he get outside? He must have fallen asleep out here sitting next to Brian last night. He growled again.

You idiot, he thought, that wasn't so smart now was it?

It was actually quite embarrassing, he hoped no one had seen him yet.

Doc turned his attention to the fiery red stock car in front of him, he was still mad that the kid wasn't Laura waking him up.

"You know Doc, it's Sheriff's job to have midnight stakeouts for speeders. Remember, you're the town doctor."

Doc ignored Lightning's little joke. "What time is it?"

"It's around 8 o'clock. Brian told me to come get you."

"Thanks..."

It was then that the two heard the sliding of a garage door opening. They both looked towards one of the cones near them to see Laura rolling down the small ramp, and smiling to greet the day.

In that exact moment, she glanced to her side where the tree line sat at the back of the motel, noticing the other two.

She smiled sweetly at Doc before heading over to the cafe.

Doc didn't have a chance to return a smile, she was already gone. He sighed, he missed her more than he thought. That good morning smile was something that could never be replaced. Doc smirked as he reflected on better days.

Lightning looked at him, "You never did tell me Laura's part in coming here. Everyone else you introduced, just not her."

Doc was hesitant, but he figured he might as well tell Lightning. He was going to find out anyways. "It's simple, she's my ex girlfriend."

"Ex? What happened?"

"Not important." He suddenly snapped, losing his normal cool.

Doc tried to drive around Lightning, but he cut him off. "Oh, do I sense some negativity there?"

Doc glared at him, "Drop it, kid." He drove around Lightning before the conversation could progress. That wasn't a memory that should be brought up.

Doc was almost out into the clear when Lightning called to him, "So what you're saying is, that I have to ask Laura to get answers?"

Doc lashed around as fast as he could. For a moment he scared Lightning, he thought he was going to attack him. The cobalt blue car drove up to him until he was face to face with him. "If you _ever_ do that, I'll make sure you won't have a racing career. Got it?"

Lightning saw a side of Doc that he didn't think was possible. He could tell he was serious about Laura, and he didn't dare play with fire. "Yes sir."

Doc forced a smile, "Good choice."

With that, he drove out of the Cozy Cone and to the cafe to find Brian. He saw him sitting at the cafe, and gestured for him to come over.

Brian pulled up in front of him, "Yeah?"

"Why didn't you wake me up when I fell asleep last night?" He asked angrily.

Brian rolled back a few inches from him, "Well, I was hoping that since you caught up on sleep, that you might be less grumpy..."

Doc looked at him questionably, "You let me sleep on the dirt, out in the cold, so that I'd catch up on sleep?"

Brian nodded, "Feel better don't you?"

Now that he mentioned it, he did. But that wasn't the point. "Still--"

"What are we doing today?" Brian cut in before Doc could complain anymore.

"It's--"

Doc stopped as Lightning pulled up next to him. "I got an idea!"

Doc sneered at him, mad that he got interrupted a second time. "Where'd you come from?"

"I was just driving by when I heard the conversation."

Brian sighed, "Look, what ever your _idea_ is, no one's racing you right now..."

"Wow, Brian," Lightning started, "I'm hurt that you'd think I'd want a race right now."

"Well, it _is _your nature..." He told him.

Lightning scoffed as Doc turned to face him, "So what's your idea?"

"Why not ask Laura what she wants to do? She's been quiet this whole time." The two older cars gave him a look of suspicion. "What?"

Brian rolled his eyes, he didn't want Doc around Laura if he didn't have to be. He wanted absolutely no conversation between them if that could be avoided. She was here to show that she cared and that she was still his friend.

If word got out that Laura wasn't really married, bad things would happen. "Forget it kid..." Brian mumbled.

Doc for once didn't know what to say.

What was he trying to do, he thought, trying to get us back together?

"Kid, she's married. Why would I talk to her?"

Brian smiled, "Exactly!" He said, trying to help discourage Doc from talking to her. Brian knew that Laura still liked Doc, and he didn't want her to get involved with this situation. He was also mad at his little plan that wasn't exactly fool proof.

Laura, at any given time, could tell Doc the truth if she fell for him again. He already knew that Doc still liked Laura from the way he acted.

Brian shook that thought, "Don't do it, Hudson."

Lightning glared at Brian, "What's your problem?"

Brian glared back at him, surprised that the kid would stand up against his word. "I don't have a problem, but I'll give you one."

Frustrated, Doc cut in. "Alright, enough! I'll be right back, I'm gonna go talk to her..." As much as Doc hated the fact that he let her go, he wanted to hear her voice.

While Doc drove off to talk to Laura, Lightning smirked at Brian. "Hah, I win."

"What makes you think you won?"

"He choose my option over yours, I win." He chirped.

Brian scoffed, "You haven't won anything, you little punk. You don't know half of what you think you do. The only thing Hudson's told you about Laura is the fact that she's his ex..."

Lightning formed a good conclusion in his head while he thought about Brian's words. Then it hit him, he knew what this was about. He narrowed his eyes and smiled, "Oh... I get it. You're trying to protect someone..."

Brian knew that Lightning wasn't stupid. "Good job, you're mighty clever."

"Who are you trying to protect? Doc or Laura?"

Lightning felt that he was about to uncover some sort of mystery.

"What?" Brian asked sharply.

"I know you're trying to protect one of the two, who is it?" Lightning prodded.

"I don't have to tell you anything..."

"But if I guess right, will you tell me?"

Brian rolled his eyes and sighed, "You really like getting into other cars' business, don't you?"

"Is it Laura?"

Brian's hesitance before his answer gave him away. "Yes, it's Laura." He didn't know why he told Lightning the truth, but he did. He was probably going to regret it. But for now, he just wanted the kid to leave him alone. "Now go suck antifreeze..."

Lightning burst into laughter, "Why you gotta be so hostile?"

"Leave them two alone, alright? I don't want you putting your grill where it doesn't belong..."

Brian tried to leave by Lightning cut him off, "Doc said Laura was married, so why are you trying to protect her?"

"Exactly."

"She's the married one though..." Brian stayed silent, hoping Lightning wouldn't jump to conclusions. Like he feared, he did.

Brian watched as a small glimmer of recognition flashed on Lightning's face. "Oh! So Laura's the reason of their break up. She's the one that cheats..."

Brian's eyes shot wide open, "No! You've got it all wrong!"

"It's okay," Lightning said, comforting Brian, "I get it now. You don't have to keep covering up for her. She cheats and you're keeping her away from Doc."

Brian frowned, "Kid, Laura's not the problem." He didn't know why he was still talking to Lightning. But now that he managed to screw up the plot, he had to set things straight before it got out of control.

Lightning chuckled, "You're not making any sense here, Brian." He paused, he liked these mind games. "Wait, okay! I think I've figured this out! Doc's the problem! Is _that _it?"

Brian sighed, he didn't know how he had let this get so far. The kid was about to learn too much at once if he didn't put a stop to this argument immediately.

While Lightning rambled on about specific possibilities, Brian struck him with one tire, pushing the kid sideways a few inches. Lightning sat there in disbelief. Shock was the only expression he gave.

"Did you just hit me?"

"Correction, I slapped you. You were getting hysterical."

"I was not--"

"Shut up, okay? It's too early in the morning to discuss this."

"But I came so close to--"

"The only thing you came close to was getting to see me lose my temper." Brian stated flatly.

Lightning scowled at Brian, "This isn't over, I'll get the truth soon."

"Oh, don't doubt that you will. But don't let that be your only mission in life..."

"Why can't you just tell me what's going on here? It's not like I plan on telling everyone in town."

"I don't care what your intentions are. The less you know right now, the better..." Lightning sighed sadly, and Brian felt bad about the current debate. "It's nothing personal kid, I just can't tell you someone else's business; it's not my place. Don't screw up a friendship just because your curiosity told you to."

Brian had to think of something to avert Lightning's attention for the time being. "For now, it's neither Hudson or Laura." That was a lie, but Brian had to tell it.

Lightning bought it, and happily drove off to somewhere else in town. Brian breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Sadie just waking up. He drove over his wife, glad to see her face after all the mayhem.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Doc eagerly left his conversation with Brian and Lightning to find Laura.

When he turned around, he saw that she was no longer sitting in the place of the cafe she had been before.

He stopped in the middle of the cafe to survey his surroundings. He couldn't see her anywhere. Surely it wouldn't be hard to spot a cherry red car wandering around town.

But it was quiet, the town had just begun to stir.

Apparently, it had been Brian and Lightning to be the first ones up this morning.

Doc pulled into the middle of the street under the traffic light to get a better view of the town.

He saw Sheriff driving east towards the build board on the edge of town to do his daily job. Beside him, Sally was doing her routine maintenance check of the Cozy Cone.

From behind him, a voice spoke gently to him, "Looking for someone, Hudson?"

Doc turned around quickly, "Good morning, Laura."

She smiled, "Good morning to you also."

This was the first time that Doc had a chance to talk to her alone. He'd much rather have been the one to approach her, not the other way around. Laura had caught him off guard, and now he didn't know what to say.

"Something the matter?" She asked, slightly concerned.

Doc came back into reality, "Oh, I was just wondering what you'd like to do today."

Laura tapped one of her tires repeatedly as she thought on it. "I don't know, what's there to do?"

Doc didn't really have an answer. He had to admit, this was one boring town. From what he remembered, Laura needed some excitement in her life to keep her happy.

He knew that she wouldn't live here for long if she had a choice, and that thought briefly made him sad.

Doc wanted to say that they could talk about life after their break up and how she had met John, but that wasn't an option right now. Or, they could sit side by side in the shade while he confessed his undying love for her and how much he needed her, and possibly get back together.

But again, not an option.

"Well," He started, "We could drive around until we think of something."

Laura laughed lightly, "If that's an offer to go on a drive, I accept."

Just the two of us, he thought, if only things weren't so complicated right now...

Another thing that added to Doc's confusion, and something that bothered him, was the fact that Laura's tone and mood was unaffected by being in contact with him. He was sure that she had sensed his uneasiness.

But her, she was almost too calm, like Doc was someone she just met. He didn't blame her for moving on, but he just wished he could have.

The two started up their engines and began to drive out of town towards Ornament Valley side by side on the empty road.

It was then that Doc felt like calling John up and making sure that he treated this woman as if she was royalty. He wanted to meet him personally, most likely ask him all sorts of questions.

It was evident that John had been in Laura's life for a long time, and Doc trusted her her sense of judgment with this kind of the dating category. He was positive that she had chosen the right one, and he was happy for her.

Doc's smile was followed by a quick chuckle.

Laura looked at him, "What's so funny?"

"Life."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brian drove up to Sadie at the Cozy cone entrance. "Morning sweetheart." He told her, and soon afterwards giving her a kiss.

She smiled, "Where did you go in the middle of the night? I heard the door open."

"Just needed air is all." He said, returning a smile.

Brian lost his smile as he turned his attention to the sound of fading engines going down the main road. He looked closely at the blurry image and recognized them instantly. "Oh no..." He kicked on his engine, "Excuse me real quick."

With that, he tore down the main road to catch up with Laura and Doc.

Having heard the brief roar of an engine, Dave awoke and opened his cone's garage door. He had heard some commotion earlier, but ignored it and went back to bed. He had kept his patience up until now.

He slowly rolled down the ramp and next to Sadie who was watching Brian leave.

Dave stretched on his tires and yawned, "What's going on?"

Sadie sighed, "Trouble."

Brian drove to them at a fairly fast pace. He didn't want this to start so soon. At least not on the third day.

Hearing the approach of an engine, Laura and Doc turned around to see who it was.

Brian braked to a stop in front of them, "Hey! Where you guys going?"

"Oh, we're just going to--"

Brian cut Doc off, "And leave all of us behind?"

"Well, we'll be right back, Brian." Doc told him.

Laura, who knew where this was leading, drove closer to Brian. "It's just a drive." She said. Her eyes leveling flatly suggesting she was not in the mood to discuss her decisions.

Brian sighed, he knew Laura held all the cards at the moment. He was not the one that could possibly stop her from doing what she wanted. In fact, she had everyone who knew about her _marriage_ on pins and needles. Everything was entirely up to her.

"Laura," Brian started, "We need our guide to show us some more of the town." He said, hinting something to her that only she understood.

The group of three turned into four as Sadie pulled up next to her husband. She also didn't want Laura to hang around Doc, but at least she knew how to handle it. "Dear, why don't you come to the cafe and have a can of oil with me?"

"Honey," He said impatiently, "In a minute."

Sadie propped herself up taller as she turned to face him. She wasn't about to let him run the show. "No, now."

This was getting a bit awkward to Doc. "What's going on?" He asked.

The three completely ignored Doc's request for an answer as Brian and Sadie continued bickering.

Brian was getting agitated, "You could bring the can to me so I can drink it here with these two." He said, gesturing towards Laura and Doc.

"Or," She snipped, "You could stop being such a--"

"Who's side are you on, Sadie?"

"No one's... at the moment--"

"Please," Laura stated, cutting in. "Let's talk about this later. Shall we?"

Lightning suddenly pulled up on the other side of Brian eagerly wanting to talk. "I think I've got it now! I think I figured it out!" He yelled, referring to his previous conversation with Brian just a few minutes before. "I think it's Dave!"

Brian scoffed, "No kid, it's not Dave!" He yelled.

Dave, who was still sitting in front of the lobby of the Cozy Cone slowly waking up, heard his name being mentioned. "What about me?"

Brian lashed around to yell at him. "Nothing Dave! Forget about it!"

Now Doc was really confused, "Seriously, what's this all about?"

Brian returned to the little circle of the four other cars behind him, "You too, Hudson. Just drop it."

Doc was a little mad at the command he received from Brian. "No," He told him. "I wanna know what's going on."

Laura smiled at him, glad that Doc was trying to solve this.

He laughed nervously and returned the smile. Something about her approval of him made him melt.

Brian looked from Laura, to Doc, and back to Laura. He didn't like that little exchange. No one else seemed to notice that, and it didn't make him feel any better about the current situation. "How about we all go to the cafe to get a drink?" He finally asked, trying to compromise.

Laura sighed, "If you're that concerned, Hudson and I will join you."

Brian smiled, "Great." He turned around and everyone else started to follow.

Everyone except Doc.

Doc watched everyone leave, sad that his quality time date with Laura had been canceled by Brian's quickly approved law.

Brian turned around after noticing someone in the group was missing. "Hudson, you coming?"

Doc looked up from the ground to look at Brian. "Yeah, I'll be right there."

Brian could care less about Doc's change in attitude. He had just shown him where he stood with Laura.

Before this little argument, Doc had just convinced himself to tell Laura how he felt. Tagging along after Brian, he decided that he would tell Laura nothing after all.

They pulled into the cafe in their usual spots. After Doc took his, Lightning took his place next to him. Like the two previous nights, Dave, Laura, Sadie and Brian took their's opposite of the other two.


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER SIX**

_Brian and Colton sped up faster along the dirt road. The night black, midnight was upon them. _

_"Hey, I'll race you back home!" Colton called to him, taking off. _

_"You got it." Brian assured him. He fell behind him after Colton pulled off a move. "You just remember I taught you that!" He called up to him. _

_"Then you should have been able to stop me from doing it!" Colton shot back. _

_"Oh, I bet you're all proud of yourself now, right?" _

_They made some turns, a couple of stops and finally, they were on a straightaway. _

_Brian caught up to Colton at their top speed while Colton began to speak to him, "You wanna make this interesting?" _

_"What you got in mind?" Brian asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion. _

_"Who ever wins--" _

_"Colt look out!" _

_With in an instant, Colton struck a car who was coming down an intersection. _

_Brian made it passed the wreck, he stopped himself as fast as he could to go back where the two cars had collided. "Are you okay?" _

_Some of the cars around the accident started talking to each other as they waited to see what would happen. _

_"Don't worry about me," Said the victim, "It's your friend over here..." _

_The car and Brian turned to Colton to see that there was practically nothing left of him. He sat there ruined and smashed up, he couldn't move and could barely talk. _

_"Colton, we're gonna get you some help right now, it's okay." _

_The car Colton T-boned turned to the crowd that was gathering to keep them at bay as Brian kept talking to Colton. Two of the cars took off to the station to get some help as the rest stayed back, unsure on whether to leave or not. _

_"I'm sorry." Colton managed to say. _

_"Don't be sorry, we're gonna get you put back together, everything's gonna be fine--" _

_"Brian, look at me, it's over." _

_"Don't say that, you know--" _

_"I'm sorry, I screwed this up." _

_Brian couldn't convince Colton or himself otherwise that everything would be the same after this. _

_As he listened to Colton start a horrible cough, he heard sirens in the distance. He took a quick glance over there to see how far away they were. His attention returned to Colton, "See, they're already--" He stopped, Colton's eyes had shut. "No, don't do it! Colt look at me!" _

Brian awoke from his horrible memory before Colton's engine went up in flames.

As he sat there catching his breath, he knew why he was suddenly remembering all of this. It was because of Doc, it was the fact that he was here, in Radiator Springs, with him and everyone else he loved so dearly in his life. It had been a long damn time since he had dreamed of such things, and it sort of scared him at first.

He had actually forgotten about Colton a long time ago. For some reason, that fact didn't bother him. It was for the best that the whole thing was forgotten, but the dream had been just a little disturbing.

He woke up feeling as if he had just raced.

Brian decided to wake up and start the day, he found it hard to fall back asleep after what he had seen. He really didn't care what time it was, nor did he even glance out the small window of his cone to try and guess what time it could be.

Rolling off the ramp after opening his cone's door, he found it quite peaceful. There was a light, cooling breeze passing through the center of town and finding it's way to the Cozy Cone.

In the middle of all this, Sadie sat parked behind the lobby. She appeared to be in a different world at the moment; deep in thought.

He smiled, the morning light complementing her beauty.

Brian drove up behind her, "Good morning."

Sadie had been startled from her thoughts, but not physically startled. She turned around gently, "Good morning..."

"What's on your mind?" He asked, pulling up beside her. The two seeming to be the only ones away in town so far.

"Ahh, just questioning things..."

"What sort of things?" Brian found the sunrise very interesting.

She breathed in deep, "Remember how we met?"

Brian winced. Yeah, he remembered how they did. It wasn't the best of first impressions. Though, he still couldn't help but wonder how it would have turned out if he hadn't been so rude. "Of course I still remember..."

"You don't regret that, do you?"

Brian was taken back, "What gives you doubts?"

"No doubts," She assured him, "It was just a question."

Brian seemed to think on that as Sadie stared at the sunrise. "I don't regret that night at the bar. It had been a miracle I met someone like you. I just don't know how I could be so... obnoxious." Brian was rarely embarrassed, it was impossible to accomplish such a thing. But even today, after so many years, he felt somewhat humiliated by their first_ conversation_. He didn't know how he could have lived without her. She had been so much to him; his love for her never losing strength. If anything, it only grew more each day.

In that moment, he thought about Doc and Laura's situation. What would it be like on the last day they were here? He didn't want to drag Laura away from Doc, and vice versa, but he was going to have no choice but that. Brian was beginning to wish that he had told Laura that she couldn't come on the trip with Sadie, Dave and him. It would be less drama for everyone. If the truth that Laura wasn't really married that got to him the most.

Things would have turned out better for those two if Hudson hadn't screwed up in 1954, he thought. He sighed, things would have been a_ lot _better for everyone.

Their attention was take to the cone beside them. Laura was rolling out onto the ramp and down it, heading towards the main road when she stopped.

Laura was completely thrown from her concentration of what she had wanted to do. She hadn't noticed Sadie and Brian sitting there, watching her every move.

"Where are you doing in such a hurry?" Brian asked.

Laura smiled sheepishly. Originally, she had made self noted plans on talking to Doc before the town started to stir. She was eager to tell him that she wasn't married. Laura wanted to knock on his door and tell him how it was, just tell him straight up that she still loved him after all this time. But now it wasn't possible.

If only she had gotten up sooner, maybe things would have turned out differently.

Now that her plans had been canceled, she sighed and reluctantly pulled up next to Sadie and watched the sunrise with them.

"So, where_ were _you going?" Sadie asked, curious herself.

Laura shrugged, "I was going on my morning drive..."

The two looked at her, "Since when do you take morning drives?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Alright, he thought, you can handle the fourth day.

Doc pushed the double doors to his office open and slowly drove out to observe his surroundings.

The sunrise caught his attention first. For some reason, it always made him feel a little better in the mornings. He sighed as he looked at the rest of the town. No one else seemed to be up yet, and that surprised him a little.

But then he saw it, movement across the street at the Cozy Cone Motel. Three cars parked next to each other, a green one, red one, and a teal one. The red car, Laura, waved quickly at him to keep his attention. He smiled and waved back. He could tell that the green car was a bit disgusted with it as he sank down lower. The teal car nudged her husband and rolled her eyes.

Doc didn't care what that was about, nor was he going to ask. He found it nice that Laura waved to him. With an extra hip hop in his stride, he rolled over to the group of three while he kept his engine quiet. There was no need to wake up the other residents.

"Good morning." Doc said, parking in front of them.

The replied in unison. They really didn't know what to say to each other at the moment.

Finally, Laura broke the silence. "Come sit next to me." She said, patting the pavement next to her.

Doc kept his small smile to himself, he didn't want to show too much enthusiasm in doing what was offered to him.

As Doc pulled up next to Laura, Sadie could tell Brian was trying hard not to make a remark to that. He was biting his lower lip, keeping himself quiet. She nudged her husband again, this time a little agitated. "Knock it off..." She whispered as Brian got a little fidgety.

He looked her direction sharply with wide eyes. "Don't tell me you don't--"

"Shut up." She whispered, cutting him off. Sadie knew what Brian was talking about, she didn't need to be reminded.

Laura scoffed slightly, realizing what they were talking about. "Be quiet, please. I'm trying to admire the sunrise..."

Then go enjoy it away from Hudson, Brian thought, stop being a flirt.

Doc sighed at Laura's statement. It had been a long time since he enjoyed a sunrise with her. Those times were not forgotten, and they never will be. Being here with her right now refreshed everything, and he felt like he was back in South Carolina all over again. All he needed was that never ending beach, the sound of the waves, and he'd be home. He started remembering all the sunsets, too. And all those times they spent in doors on rainy days came back to him as well.

He tried to stop thinking about times he'd never see again. But as long as he didn't feel bad about it, he sure as hell would continue.

It was then that from Fillmore's dome, the sound of Hendrix blared out.

It startled the classics, all except for Doc who had grown accustomed to it being his alarm.

Over the morning's song, they could hear the veteran yelling for the old bus to turn it off.

"Sarge was a little late playing his revelry..." Doc noted. Sarge was always first to play the morning tune.

Brian laughed slightly, forgetting his attitude about Laura's invitation. "Must be the drink I let him have last night."

The four classics watched as Dave sauntered out of his cone. The maroon car yawned for a while before making his way towards the group.

"Morning..." He mumbled, blinking his eyes a couple of times.

Laura was a little concerned. "Dave, you're never this tired. Usually you're the one waking everyone up for the day..."

Dave smirked as he pulled up along side Doc. "After being the early bird for 58 years in a row, I believe I have the right to sleep in once in a while."

Brian saw this as another opportunity. "Did you sleep well?"

Dave smiled, "Yes, very well. Thank you for asking..."

Brian smiled along with him, "You know, you could have more days like that if you'd just quit your job at the company."

Dave scoffed, "I should have known you would have made that statement into the subject about my company..."

"That really wasn't fair, you see, you were unsuspecting. That job you run has got you so tired you can't think straight. It alters your responses, so you were oblivious."

"Brian," Dave started, "Don't say that. You know very well that I'm a smart car."

Laura disagreed, "No, Dave, smart cars don't associate or engage in conversations with Brian."

Brian mumbled something to himself as Dave laughed. "Yeah, I guess that makes me an idiot." He said.

Laura had actually saved Dave from bringing up the topic of Brian's engine failure as a remark to shoot back at him for rubbing the company in his face.

Doc decided he better say something before this gets out of control. He could tell that Brian was on the verge of making up his own form of a comeback to Dave. "What would everyone like to do today?" He asked.

There were a mixture of unsure responses among the five. It reminded Doc again of the old days, the good times. He forgot how much he missed sitting with his best friends on days like these. The same cars, the same memories. Life wasn't going to be the same after this.

Doc sighed when he figured he wasn't going to get an answer. "Are we gonna be productive, or lazy today?"

Brian smirked. "Whaddaya mean, work? I'm not doing any work..."

Dave leaned forward to look across Doc and Laura to look at Brian. "You never do any work. You haven't had a job since--"

"Shut up already, I'm tired of your voice. Damn..." Brian said.

Dave drove forward slightly, "No, you shut up. No one likes your crude remarks anymore. At least I made an honest living of myself, there's not much I can say about you. What have you accomplished?"

Brian got mad at that statement. "At least I didn't lose the love of my life to a _job_..."

Dave drove out from the line up to park in front of Brian. "Don't bring Joanna into this."

"What are you gonna do?" Brian asked, driving closer to Dave.

Dave backed up a bit as he looked the green car up and down. "I'm warning you..."

Doc quickly left Laura's side and got between Brian and Dave. Even though he was highly sure of the fact that Dave wouldn't hit Brian, he knew Brian wouldn't take any nonsense from anyone. It was times like these that Doc didn't miss. "Stop, okay? Both of you, you're acting worse than I remember when I was back in--"

"Hudson, stay out of this. You've been out of the loop too long to just join in now." Brian told him.

Laura drove up to Brian, "Please, can we just forget about this?"

Dave drove out from behind Doc, "No, he started it."

Brian looked at Dave. "That's right, and I'll finish it--"

Sadie pushed her husband sideways, "I've had enough out of you, Brian. Wise up, right now."

Brian looked at Sadie sincerely. He never wanted to fight with her, ever. "Fine..." He said.

Laura sighed as Doc returned to her side. He felt comfortable leaving those three alone.

The five resumed their positions they had before and continued to watch the sunrise.

It was then that they saw they were being watched. The whole town was awake and had seen this little dispute. Not only witnessed it, but heard it.

Brian breathed in deep and closed his eyes. "Great..." He whispered.

"You wouldn't be as embarrassed as you are now if you had just sucked it up, and realize that Hudson wasn't talking about fixing up the town as something to do around here."

Doc glared at Dave, "Quit it."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There was a knock on Doc's door later that day.

"Come in." He told the individual.

It was Lighting who pushed the double doors open. "Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Depends," Doc said as he continued to clean. "It depends on what the question is about."

Lightning sighed, "About this morning?"

"Sorry, can't help you..." He told the stock car as he moved to another side of the room.

"Okay, Doc, but could you please tell me whether or not you can end that feud?"

Doc stopped cleaning. "Why?" He asked, turning to face him.

"Because, nobody's talking to anyone. They're all ignoring each other, and it's making the cafe quite awkward..." Lightning told him, shifting his tires on the cold floor.

Doc sighed. He had left so that he didn't have to deal with that situation. He told everyone he had to clean up his office today, and he left without hesitation. No one stopped him, so he didn't feel guilty about leaving. "Tell them to suck it up, I'm not going to deal with that drama..." He then continued to clean.

"No offense, Doc, but I'm beginning to think that's all you're going to get."

"Yeah, you're probably right." He said, moving around a couple tools.

"So, I was thinking on ways for you to forget the drama."

"Oh?" Doc asked.

"I was wondering if, maybe, you could show me what I did wrong on that race with Brian the other day. You know, he being your trainer and all, I'm sure you'll know how to beat him at his own game."

Doc chuckled, "Maybe, maybe not."

Lightning smiled. "I'm thinking that you're gonna take me up on that race?"

The kid was in luck. "Yeah, I'll take you up on that race. I'll meet you outside."

Lightning drove out of Doc's office and parked outside. He looked to his right at the cafe, the place was still silent. The only thing breaking that silence was Lizzie's radio across the street. He saw Sally helping Flo restack the oil cans near the back of the cafe, that was the only movement there.

Doc appeared behind Lightning. "Ready to go?" He asked.

Lightning turned to face him. "Yeah, let's go."

The two started driving down the street towards Willy's Butte when Brian noticed them. He had a good idea about what they were going to do. He was hesitant, but he went. He wanted to see this race. More than anything, he wanted to know just how much Doc remembered about racing and everything he's spent time teaching him in the early 50's.

He kicked on his engine. It gained the attention of everyone at the cafe as he started to follow the doctor and his rookie in progress. What ever they had to say when he was gone, he couldn't care less.

Dave sighed as he watched Brian leave. Another day, another fight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brian sat there at the edge of the cliff as he watched Lightning and Doc race.

He was amused at Doc's mixture of taunting and teachings. The old car was showing the other car red dirt racing, but doing it with style.

Brian laughed to himself for a moment. "Great... now I won't be able to use that trick on my next race with him..." He muttered as the two cars completed another lap.

The sound of the two engines were starting to make his mind hurt. He decided to click on his radio instead.

As he flipped through the stations, he realized that the only thing that his radio picked up within certain miles were country and rock. He had become a big fan of rock over the years, but anything was better than country. So he channeled through those. One song caught his attention, though. The song was by Led Zeppelin, oddly enough the song was named Rock and Roll.

He remembered how the car next to him, when he was in the hospital, loved classic rock. He had just woken up that day to be greeted by two beautiful girls waiting for him in his room. Sadie and Laura had been there everyday waiting to give him that can of oil he particularly favored.

The car played it every now and then and Brian could hear it through the walls occasionally.

The young Mustang loved racing, particularly the drag strip. A wrong start had put him in the hospital. Brian promised the car that he'd come to one of his races as soon as they both were better.

Brian turned the song up a little more to drown out the sound of the engines. For the first time ever, he was sick of racing. He didn't know why, but it didn't appeal to him at the moment.

It was then that he felt something push his quarter panel. He lashed around at the surprise and turned off his radio. "Dave?" He asked. "What are you doing here?"

Dave pulled up next to Brian on top of the cliff to watch Doc and Lightning race as well. "I just wanted to see the race." He stated simply.

Brian looked at the ground. He felt like this was a good time to apologize. "I'm... sorry about earlier this morning. I didn't mean for it to go that far..." He knew that the company didn't make Joanna leave Dave.

Dave looked at Brian sincerely. "I'm sorry, too. I didn't mean half of what I said." Dave did mean what he said. But as long as that lie made things better, he was willing to tell it.

The two classics noticed as Doc and Lightning's racing session stopped. The two racers gathered near the finish line to review it.

Dave and Brian sat there in silence as they slowly drove up the cliff to meet up with the ones waiting at the top for them.

Lightning may not have won, but he felt better about racing now.

Brian joined Lightning on his way back to the cafe to leave Doc and Dave to talk. The old blue car looked like he needed to talk to him.

"Dave, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He told him, watching the two leave.

Doc pulled up beside him. "I have a favor to ask you..."

Dave looked at him, "What of?"

"I was wondering if you wouldn't mind telling me the whole story of Brian's engine failure day." Doc said, then Dave sighed. "But only if you want to, I don't wanna bring anything up that shouldn't be..."

Dave waved a tire to stop him, "Don't worry about that. If you want the story, you'll get the story..."


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

South Carolina, 1978.

Dave sighed as he moved around one of the company's many hallways. Dave was at least thirty minutes later than usual.

He made his way into the main room where life couldn't be busier. He took a quick look around the noisy place to make sure everything was in working order before quietly heading towards his own office.

It was a rough morning, real rough.

He began searching through today's new files. The company had been extremely busy the past few weeks, and Dave was getting on every one of his employee's cases about getting their work done on time. Nothing was out of place so long as he was in charge.

Dave wasn't a tyrant, he was actually quite reasonable, but sometimes everyone felt exhausted. There wasn't a single guy in the office hesitant to go home to their places and wives.

He sighed again as his searching slowed. A yawn followed not shortly after before he replaced the folder back in the drawer and slammed it shut.

Dave gasped as the cabinet closed, Shane was parked behind it in the doorway.

"You scared me..." He told him, trying not to appear cowardly.

Shane chuckled softly, "Sorry about that."

Dave breathed in deep. "It's alright, don't worry about it." He moved behind his desk and gestured towards the rest of the room as he parked. "Please, come in."

Shane slowly moved into the room and parked directly in front of Dave's desk to face him. He had been in this room many times to discuss future business plans and opportunities. It was also the place of the day he was elected Dave's apprentice.

"So," Dave started, "What can I do for you?"

Shane looked him directly in the eyes. "Dave, we've been good friends for a while, right?"

"Yes..." Dave said, unsure of where this was leading.

"And you've taken me under your wing and guided me through this company many times."

"You're my apprentice, of course I showed you the works." Dave leaned back on his tires, still curious as to what the younger car was doing.

"Well, I was wondering if you were alright."

Dave was unsure of what he meant by that. "Pardon?"

"It's just this is the first day that you've been late for work in a long time. Or at least since I've been here." Shane said, referring to a previous friend intervention.

"Oh!" Dave said, realizing what he was talking about. "It's nothing... don't worry about it..." He started looking at files on his desk, turning his attention away from the current situation.

Shane still sat there, even though he thought Dave might want to drop the subject. "Dave, I'm serious, is everything alright?" It wasn't normal for Dave to be acting like this.

He sighed as he looked away from his papers. "Alright, okay. Brian and I got into a fight this morning before I left. I didn't intend on being late."

There was no need for an apology, so Dave made no effort to utter one.

"I know this is your company, Dave. I know that you own everything there is to this place, but there is such a thing as taking time off. Just letting you know." Shane told him with a hint of sympathy.

Dave smirked. "I have no problem leaving my company in your care when ever it is necessary, Shane, but the company needs me right now and--"

"Dave," Shane started, cutting him off. "This company will always need you. It's needed someone like you since it got started. The guy before you made a good decision to give the company to you in 1953. It's yours, always has been. I'm just saying, a vacation would do you good. Take a break, I can handle things around here for a while. You trust me, right?"

Dave eyed the tan and brown car in front of him. Shane was the best apprentice he's ever had; better than Mitch. He'd love to hand the business down one day to Shane, and he'd do it with pride.

"Shane, it's not that I don't trust you. It's just this week, everything has to be perfect."

"Okay, now you're just calling me untidy."

"No!" Dave told him, a little shocked. "Not that at all."

Shane laughed, "I was just kidding with you. But honestly, take a break. You need it. And that whole thing with your drunkard friend, Brian, really isn't helping you out any. You know what I'm saying?"

Things had been a little rough back at the house without Joanna around to keep things in order. Dave couldn't think of a time where he took a break from the company. He hadn't missed a single day ever since he started working here, and he was_ never _late.

"I know what you're saying, Shane. And I've tried to get Brian back on his tires, but he's such a prick about help that the only car he listens to is Sadie."

Shane hummed a delightful tune. "Ahh, Sadie... I remember her..."

Dave chuckled. "She's too old for you. Knock that off."

"She may be before my time, but that doesn't mean anything." Shane started remembering more and more about the day Brian showed up at Dave's office with Sadie tagging along beside him. The whole staff of employees had been in suspended animation as she rolled by all of them. Stares and low whistles had been the only thing that happened within the total of five minutes that Sadie had been in their presence.

"Still, I don't know how that drunkard scored her."

Dave frowned at him, "They're perfect for each other, alright? They always have been, since the beginning." He wasn't too happy with Shane looking down on his best friend like that.

Shane kept trying to remember more of her. "Don't get me wrong, Brian's a good looking guy, it's just she could do better than having to put up with his stupid habit."

"For your information, she has that stupid habit as well. She's just not as bad as Brian... yet." Dave hoped that Brian wouldn't turn Sadie into a drunkard as well.

Dave started rummaging through the same pile papers again. He wasn't really looking for anything, just keeping himself busy. "Although, it would have been funny if your wife had been here that day."

"You mean the jealous tart known by the name of Allison?"

"Shane, that's no way to talk about your wife." Dave knew how precious a thing like marriage was.

"Well she is, and you know it."

"Anyways, getting back to the subject, I'm fine. Thanks for your concern, Shane."

"No problem, buddy." He told him, placing a tire on his desk to keep his attention before he looked at more files. Dave looked up at him. "Don't forget, there's a meeting at two o'clock today."

Dave scoffed, "I'm the one that called that meeting, how could I forget?"

Shane sat there, a bit unsure. "I dunno Dave, you seem pretty sidetracked as it is. You might wanna consider taking the rest of the day off."

Dave, for the first time _ever_, actually considered that possiblility. A break from life didn't seem like such a bad idea. "I'll think about it..."

Shane drove to the doorway to get back to his work. He turned around to look at Dave. "Don't think about it too long, alright? Before you know it, the day will be over."

He smiled. "Fine."

Shane disappeared from the doorway to his office. Once again the constant sound of cars busily working and bustling around the many offices throughout the company's endless rooms returned. Now Dave was in peace, it was music to him.

He smiled at everything. He had this company under his command, it was his. No one else's, and it made him proud. Not many cars could achieve such a thing, this was truly an accomplishment.

Dave couldn't control anything else in his life. It was probably the main reason he was still holding onto this job as company leader. Nothing here was done without his consult, being completely in charge helped him realize that he wasn't a failure. At least he was happy _here_.

He opened up one of the drawers in his desk next to him. Inside was a picture frame with Joanna in it. She may not have been happy in the picture, but it was the only one he had left of her. He studied the picture more, remembering the day of their divorce in 1956.

Joanna had burned their wedding day picture, along with anything else that would help remind either of them of what they used to have. She thought it would be in Dave's best interest that everything was thrown away.

He sighed again. Dave's fight with Brian this morning once more coming into mind. "Jerk... don't ever say those things again to me..." He muttered.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dave drove into Shane's office later that day to tell him the exciting news that he was going home to take a break. "Shane, I think I'm gonna--"

Shane hung up the phone he was on and quickly drove over to him. "Dave, I have something to tell you," He rushed.

Dave backed up a bit from him. "What's going on?"

"You may want to park before I tell you..." Shane's voice was panicked.

He sensed something was wrong.

"You okay?" Dave asked, shutting off his engine in the doorway to his office.

Shane swallowed hard. "No, but I'm about to tell you some news that you're not gonna like..."

"What--"

"I'm really sorry, Dave..."

"Tell me!" He snapped, feeling worse than he did all morning.

"It's Brian..."

Dave flinched.

"I just got off the phone with the hospital, his engine's dying. It quit on him."

"No..."

"He's forty percent disassembled right now."

"No..."

"Dave, I'm really sorry. The doctors think it's terminal." He sighed, "That's all the information they gave me."

"W-why didn't they call me?"

"They lost your number, they couldn't find you in the emergency contact list."

"Damn it Brian! You stupid, self-centered prick!" Dave threw himself back into the hallway. The cars on the top floor of the building stopped what they were doing as they heard the commotion.

Dave hit a car passing behind him as he backed up, sending his papers flying upward and scattering around the two.

Shane drove up to him, "Everyone's already at the hospital, they're waiting for you."

Dave didn't bother apologizing to what ever car he ran into. He spun around and headed towards the elevators. He clipped a file cabinet on his way there, it spun in place before it tipped over.

Everyone looked at Shane for an answer after witnessing the quick scene. Dave had never acted to anything in such a way before. They had always figured him as the one to keep things under control. Seeing their leader act so oddly was a bit upsetting.

Shane sighed and looked at the ground, frustrated at the situation. He turned his attention to the masses of cars around him. "Let him be. But for now... everyone take a break." He turned around and headed back into his own office to think. Shane wanted to join Dave at the hospital, but he was in charge of the place for the time being.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dave rocketed through the hospital doors to the waiting room. He found a sobbing Sadie in the corner. James and Mason were at her side. Laura was quickly pacing around the tight quarters of the room, trying very hard not to think about the outcome of this.

He pulled up in front of James. This hospital was apparently the place where you brought best friends. This local hospital held memories of a time in 1950, and now in 1978. "What exactly happened?" He asked.

James shook himself. "I dunno, we were all just sitting there, and all of a sudden Brian started freaking out. He was in too much pain to say anything really. The next thing we know, he just... quit."

"What do you mean quit?" Dave was still out of breath from the quick race over here.

"He's dying, Dave. The doctors are trying everything they can for him."

"I already know that!"

Sadie sobbed harder the louder they talked.

Dave and James pulled over to the side as Mason continued to comfort her.

"Dave, I don't know what to do..."

"No one does, it's horrible. What do you know that I don't?"

"The doctors just took Brian away the minute we arrived beside the ambulance. They haven't come out yet."

As if on cue, a lone doctor rolled out of a large hallway towards the group in the waiting room. He had their full attention.

"You here for Brian?"

"Yes, we are." Dave told him, speaking for everyone.

The doctor sighed. "My name is Dr. Colby," The dignified car told them. "Your friend's in a very bad position right now."

"How bad?"

"He might not make it... I'm sorry to say that he's only gotten worse."

Dave cringed as Sadie spun around to head towards the exit. Mason chased after her to make sure she would be alright. "Are you sure?" He asked.

"Your friend, he has a drinking problem?"

"Yes." Dave told him, getting angry. "Is that the reason for his sudden failure?"

"It is, it's destroyed most of his engine. It's gonna take a miracle to save him."

"Straightforward, aren't you?" James asked, glaring.

Colby turned to him. "You're not the first one to say that to me." He then turned his attention back to Dave. "You should have told your friend not to drink, it could have saved you all a lot of trouble."

Dave was glowing mad. "I've been doing that since he started drinking!" He boomed.

Colby flinched at his outcry. "You're not doing a very good job at it."

He turned to go back inside with Brian and the other doctors before Dave could hit him.

"That little--"

James stopped Dave from advancing. "Violence isn't needed right now. Brian's life is at stake here, let's think of our options..."

"What options? Sadie holds all the cards! She's the proxy, his wife! And right now she's barely holding onto sanity!"

"Be quiet, Dave."

"Don't tell me to be quiet. Because if that prick Brian, can screw up his own life and bring everyone else down with him, I can do what ever the hell I want as well!"

James looked him over carefully. "Wait, what?"

"You heard me." He said, slamming a tire on the cold hard floor of the waiting room. "He screwed everything up! And he's bringing everyone else down to his level!"

"Dave, I know Brian's actions were selfish, but please, calm down..."

"No, why don't you go find Mason and Sadie. I'm sure you need some crying buddies..."

James was shocked. "You're not sympathetic about all of this?"

"The hell I am! I hate him right about now! I'm tired of feeling sorry for him, I'm done with trying to help him! Brian knew this would happen, and he didn't care! The prick doesn't give a--"

"Both of you, stop it!" Laura yelled, driving up to them. "Settle down, Dave. You're not helping." She was getting choked up now. The reality of the situation finally hitting her.

Dave sighed. "Laura, you've gotta understand--"

"No," She said, "I understand perfectly about what's going on. I know you're upset with Brian, but--"

"You're still not getting the point here! If he was as smart as everyone says he is, he would have saved everyone all this trouble and sorrow and stopped drinking. He knew the consequences, don't you dare tell me that he didn't."

There was a silence between the three as tears welled up in Laura's eyes.

Dave sank where he sat. "Okay, I'm sorry. I know I'm being the bad guy here, but it's just... how could he? How could he put everyone through this?"

Laura let out a ragged sigh. "I don't know, Dave. We'll just have to wait and see what happens."

The double doors to the waiting room burst open as another car joined the three. To Dave's surprise, it was Joanna.

Dave exhaled sharply. "Who called her here?"

Laura drove closer to Dave. "I called her before we came to the hospital. She had to know."

The maroon car rolled his eyes as his ex wife pulled up in front of them.

"Hello James, Laura." She looked Dave over. "Hello to you, too."

"Hey, Joanna..."

She rocked where she sat. "Don't sound so pleased to see me."

"I'm not." Was Dave's simple answer.

She scoffed before returning her attention to James and Laura. "Is there an update on Brian?"

Laura cleared her throat, "He might not make it."

Joanna looked impatiently at the room around her, searching for some sort of answer. She hadn't quite accepted the truth until she arrived here. "Excuse me one moment..."

She rushed out of the waiting room, the three watching her leave.

Dave turned to James as Laura began to follow her out towards the lobby. "What are the odds that the doctors would let us do a hospice?"

A memory clicked off in James's mind. "That's the one thing I forgot to tell you. The doctors won't let us do that until he's stable. He's being rebuilt right now, they won't release him to us when he's on life support."

Dave sighed. As much as he hated Brian right now for causing all this, he didn't know if he could handle his best friend's death. He thought the divorce was bad, but losing Brian would be the last straw. Even after all he's done in life, Dave would never think that he ever accomplished anything if Brian died.

He just wished that it wouldn't end like this. The last memory he had of Brian was their fight. Dave didn't want that to be the last thing that the green car remembered before death. There was too much left unsaid. He sank further to the floor next to James, they were stuck in a position that no one ever wanted to be in.

It should have ended on better terms, he thought.

It just wasn't right.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dave's phone was ringing on his desk. He sighed and clicked it on.

"Hello?" He asked.

"Yes, is this Dave?" A male car responded.

"It is." He told him, unsure who this could be. "Who's this?"

"This is Dr. Colby, Brian's doctor?"

Dave sighed again. "What news do you have for me this time?"

It had been three months since Brian's sudden engine problem. When ever the doctor called, it was to give him an update on their progress. Usually the good news was followed by a saddening truth the next day. It was a constant drag for everyone, a huge stress. No one knew what to expect anymore, they finally accepted the fact that he was basically dead. There was no sense in believing that Brian would pull through after all that had happened recently.

But Sadie, she was an entirely different story. It was the waiting room at the hospital that was her home now, no one ever found here anywhere else but there. Without Brian, she wouldn't live life anymore. The others understood her pain.

That's what bothered Dave. How could Brian do that to her? He put her through so much pain, so much suffering. And all for the midnight drinks that were slowly deteriorating him.

"I have some extremely good news, Dave." Colby started. "He's finally pulled through. Brian's on his way to a full recovery."

Dave was speechless, he couldn't think up a response to that.

"Hold on real quick..."

He drove away from the phone to the doorway of his office and shut his door. He saw Shane having a conversation with other clients around him. Shane looked over and saw the door close, something was up. Dave's door was always open to welcome anyone in.

Dave drove back to the phone. "So, he's gonna make it?"

"Brian surly is. He'll be back on the road and back into life in no time. His case was very severe, he really proved us all wrong." Colby said, referring to the other doctors.

Dave smiled, but it soon faded. "How long will his recovery take?"

"He'll need to be in our hospital's rehab for a couple of months before we can actually trust his engine. I'm sorry to say that he's over fifty percent rebuilt, but he's still the same car. He's the same Brian that you and your friends always knew."

Dave scoffed. "That's a relief..."

"It is," Colby said, ignoring Dave's sarcasm. "Brian will be able to receive visitors in two hours. I've already made phone calls to the others, they'll be here shortly."

"Thank you, Dr. Colby, for everything that you've done."

Dave and Colby hung up the phone. There was some sort of evil to all this. There was just something about this outcome that Dave didn't feel right about. It was probably his imagination, but this was all new to him. To know that Brian would be okay was a good thing, but everyone and everything would have to start over.

There was a knock at Dave's door.

"Come in." He stated simply.

Shane slowly opened the door. He peaked in through the small opening. "Everything okay?"

"Don't be shy, Shane. Get your fender in here and talk to me already."

Shane closed the door behind him and parked in front of Dave's desk. "What's the deal?"

"What do you mean _what's the deal_?" Dave asked.

"I noticed that you were on the phone, and I could see through your window that something wasn't right."

"Well," Dave started. "Brian's gonna be okay."

Shane laughed. "Aha! Damn good doctors!"

Dave smiled. "Yeah... they are." He said, reflecting on the day of Colton's news.

"Wow, they should have just put Brian out of his misery..." Shane said.

"They should have," Dave said, backing up away from his desk. "Because he's gonna hear hell from me when he's all better."

Shane's eyes followed Dave as the maroon car headed towards the door.

Dave opened it up. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to head down to the hospital."

Shane turned around to face him. "I hope everything goes okay."

"I do too, Shane. I'm leaving you in charge for now. I think I'm gonna take the next few days off, I need some time to think about this."

Shane was in a state of shock. The words of a quick vacation had never been mentioned from Dave before. "Can I get that in writing?"

Before Shane could get his answer, Dave was already heading down the main hallway towards the elevators.

He took his time driving to the hospital, actually. There was nothing to do in the next two hours than talk about how great this event was. He wanted no part in it whatsoever.

He drove into the waiting room to be greeted by a group of happy cars. James, Mason, Sadie and Laura were engaged in an intense conversation of Brian's recovery.

He sighed and drove up to them, they had been oblivious to his arrival.

"Dave!" James shouted. "There you are!"

"Hey everyone." He said, looking at each of them.

"It's a wonderful day, isn't it?"

"Just peachy."

James's smile lessened slightly. "What's wrong?"

"I'm just still reeling this in, is all."

James grinned. "Yeah, I know! It's overwhelming!" He then returned to his conversation with the other three.

Dave looked around him. The other cars in the waiting room were very remorseful and grief struck. A small group was looking their way, they appeared to be jealous of the excitement.

It reminded him of the days they spent in this very room on Brian's ever changing progress and failure. He was just glad that they wouldn't do that again. Hopefully for a long time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The group pulled into Brian's room. The amount of machinery hooked up to the green car was vast. It appeared to be the hospital's best equipment.

"Hey." Brian said weakly. "How are you guys?"

Dave didn't bother answering. Instead, he backed up against the wall near the exit to avoid contact with the car. He was still pissed off at him for doing this to them.

Sadie rushed over to him. Immediately giving him a long, deep kiss before driving up beside him to lean on his chassis. She thought she'd never be able to give him a kiss like that again. "You had me so worried..." She said, a little choked up.

Brian smiled. "I missed you."

"I missed you more." She assured him.

Dave scoffed quietly. He knew _she_ did. Brian had been out cold for the past three months. What could he have felt sorry about?

Laura kissed his fender. "How are you feeling?" She asked. Sadie was too busy enjoying this moment.

Brian grunted. "Better than I was a couple of days ago. Now it's just a constant fatigue..." He said, lowering his voice.

Dave laughed slightly. "Days? You think you've only been in the hospital a few days?"

Brian had a puzzled look on his face. "How long have I been out of it?"

"Three months." James told him, driving up to him. Mason had decided to park next to Dave to stay out of the way.

Brian looked at the ground. "Three months... that's something."

Dave wanted desperately to hit him. That's all he had to say? Not even an apology? What was wrong with him?

Brian shifted his weight, but then winced in pain. "Better not do that..." He said, switching his weight back to where he was before.

A nurse came in the room. With her, she brought a special can of oil for Brian. "Dr. Colby told me to give this to you. It'll help take the pain out of your crankshaft."

She then turned to face the others in the room. "The doctor's orders are specifically no stress, and no yelling. Brian needs a lot of peace, and I'll come and get you when your visiting time is up."

The nurse left the room quickly to go to the next patient in the other room.

Brian took the can of oil. As if instantaneously, the pain went away. "That's some good medicine right here..." He said with a slight chuckle.

Followed by that quick chuckle was a horrible cough that Brian couldn't stop. Sadie pressed against him harder, almost feeling his suffering.

The cough dwindled, and soon Brian could finish his oil.

"How bad am I, guys?"

Everyone looked at each other, they really didn't want to tell him.

Finally, Dave sighed. "You're practically rebuilt. The doctor wants you to check into rehab before--"

Brian rolled back slightly. "No, not the AA!"

The same nurse popped into the doorway of his room. "No yelling, remember?" She then disappeared.

Dave and everyone turned their attention back to Brian. "No, Brian, not Alcoholic's Anonymous..." Dave told him. "Although as much as we'd like to check you in there, the doctor meant the hospital's recovery floor."

Brian breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh... well that's good. So how long do I have to be in rehab?"

"For as long as the doctor thinks you need to be in there. They don't want to have to worry about you being on the road."

The others in the room knew that Dave was having difficulty with all of this. They all knew that Dave pretty much hated Brian for all of this, but they learned to accept this a little better than him.

Laura backed up and next to Dave to maybe offer him some comfort. She nuzzled him for a moment and looked into his eyes to show that she cared about him.

Dave didn't think twice before offering a reassuring nuzzle back to her. Laura, she was always so sweet.

Brian noticed this. "What's going on between you two?"

"You missed a lot when you were in here, Brian." James started. "Dave and Laura got married."

Brian choked on his oil as that thought registered in his mind. "What?!"

The same nurse returned into the doorway of his room for the second time. "No stress." She warned.

Dave looked past Laura to her. "What are you, listening on the other side?"

The nurse frowned at him before slowly driving off.

James laughed at his little joke. "I'm just kidding, Dave and Laura aren't married..."

Brian sighed. No one forgot about Doc and Laura's relationship, but that wasn't why he was startled by that thought. He could never picture Dave and Laura as a couple, especially husband and wife.

"When do I get to start recovery?"

The group seemed to think on that one. It was then that Colby drove into the room.

"You can start as soon as you can start your engine." He stated simply.

"When will that be?" Brian asked.

Colby looked him up and down, then at the machinery. His gaze was then taken to Brian's lovely wife that he'd seen pacing around this place the past three months. Colby noticed the never fading smile that she wore at the moment. "I bet you're happy, aren't you?"

Brian began to get impatient. "When will I be able to start my engine?" He asked again, he was tired of other cars hitting on his wife. Brian better not hear that Colby had been harassing Sadie. He didn't care how bad he felt, he'd strike fear into that doctor.

Colby snapped out of his thoughts. "Try it for yourself."

The room grew quiet as Brian tried the ignition. After a few tries, his engine turned over, and a soothing sound was produced.

It was almost as good as brand new. But the fact that Brian was no longer completely original made him sad.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"So that's how everything happened, Hudson. That's the full story." Dave said to the blue car next to him. The day had turned into night, the sun had gone down a long time ago.

Doc didn't quite know what to say to the story he had just been told. "Well... that was interesting." He finally said.

Dave sighed, "Brian's a real piece of work, you know that? The only car he said sorry to was Sadie."

"He didn't change his ways of living after you scolded him when he was all better?" Doc asked.

Dave closed his eyes. "He still kept drinking... he still kept on..."

"The fact that he didn't do anything with his life after that is mighty pitiful." Doc stated.

"It sure is."

The two continued to stare at the cafe of the gathered townsfolk.

It felt good to Doc to see his old friends and his current friends talk amongst themselves as if they've been pals for years. It was just Brian that seemed to ruin the moment.


	8. Chapter 8

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

_Their fight the night before didn't seem to phase Brian from coming to Doc's race the next day. The South Carolina Racing Headquarters were packed for the first race of the season. It was qualifying day, Brian couldn't imagine the amount of cars that would be here on Saturday for the start of the 1954 Piston Cup season._

_But as Brian drove up a small hill in the back of the headquarters that over looked the main track and campus, he began to wonder why he even came. He guessed it was that he still had some hope that maybe, just maybe Doc would change his mind about joining the team he did last night._

_Last night's fight made him mad, the worst he's ever felt. Doc had said and done some things to him and his friends that he didn't think he'd ever do. That thought nagged at him all last night and before. But still, Brian hoped that Doc would soon realize his mistake in all of this. He hoped that Doc would beg for forgiveness._

_And then there was that simple statement, the statement that made Brian break down and feel like nothing. Doc had told him directly that he joined another team. It wasn't just the fact that Doc broke up with Laura over someone else, or the fact that this was a fight that could be settled eventually, but Brian was pained and cut down when Doc ditched him and everyone else._

_He left James and Mason without a job, Dave without someone to sponsor, and Brian... well, Brian without anyone to train. The green car had forced himself to believe that things could get better, and possibly leave Colton behind if he started to train Doc and become his crew chief._

_Brian spat into the dirt beside him as he reached the top of the hill. He reversed and backed up into the tree line, into the shadows to avoid being seen. The mixture of pine trees and palms that South Carolina was so famous for helped him blend in better. Brian didn't just pick this place to blend in, he picked it because it was usually the place where he sat when he wanted to be alone and away from civilization. None of his friends ever thought to come here when they were looking for him, not even Doc._

_He watched the cars down on the main track qualify. Soon, it'd be Doc's turn to move out onto the track. Brian was eager to see how Doc would race with his new crew chief and manager._

_Brian growled softly, Laura came into his mind as he saw a lone red racer speeding down the backstretch of the main track. It was amazing how many life ruining events could happen within five minutes. Doc had broken up with that sweet, innocent girl last night. He shook those thoughts immediately, it was getting him worked up. Out of all the things he said to Doc, he knew they could be corrected, but what Doc did to Laura could never be forgiven._

_Brian had given Laura his room, she was too weak from crying to move. No one knew what to tell her, because they were still busy questioning the events. Brian highly doubted that things would ever be the same after this. Life was going to change, he could feel it. There would be no apologizes, no promises, nothing at all._

_But Brian stayed out in the living room that night. Staying up, hoping that Doc would come through the front door that night to come back home; to his room. But instead, he was forced to sit there and listen while Laura sobbed throughout the night. Sadie and Joanna had fallen asleep in Brian's room with Laura, exhausted themselves from yelling at Doc along with Dave and Brian during the party._

_Then he saw it. Brian snapped from his thoughts as he saw a lone cobalt car drive out onto the track. Doc turned around to look at his crew by the guard rail before starting up his engine and taking off down the track for a warm up lap._

_Brian drove out of the shadows of the tree line to get a better look. The day's sunlight shone brightly across his hood and black front fenders. He quickly pulled back into the shadows to avoid being seen, the sunlight was enough to create a glare. It could catch anyone's attention. It was a beautiful day, despite the current events. Brian doubted that anyone in the crowd knew about the fact that Doc signed over to a new team._

_Doc finished his warm up lap, he was now being timed for qualifying._

_As Brian watched Doc rip around the track, he sensed something was wrong. Doc was racing different, odd. He was off course and driving erratic. The blue racer was no longer fluent, he seemed to be stressed. Brian began to worry._

_"Stupid, I can't believe that you're already listening to your new crew chief's advice. You just met him last night..." Brian mumbled to himself. He found it hard to believe that Doc was now getting rid of what ever he had taught him over the years._

_But as he entered the second lap, on the first turn, Doc lost control and hit the outside guard rail hard. It didn't take too much before he was air born and flipping through the air. Brian watched in horror as Doc continued to roll and tumble farther down the track violently._

_Through all the smoke, dirt and dust, the sound of crunching metal and gasps filled the campus. Time seemed to be frozen as everything stopped to watch what might be the possible death of The Fabulous Hudson Hornet. No one dared to move, afraid to take their eyes off the gruesome sight._

_Brian's mind raced, scared and fearing for his friend's life._

_For some reason, his mind didn't jump to Colton. This was here, this was now, it was reality, and his best friend was dying before him._

_He tore down the hill he sat on as Doc finally came to a stop in the infield of the track. _

_No, please don't be dead, please don't, Brian thought._

_Brian pushed and shoved his way through the crowd to get to the main track. Luckily for him, no one had wanted to witness what they just had. It made it easier to get to the track, everyone else was too stunned and still in shock to worry who the hell was trying to get to the railing._

_Brian stopped and looked at Doc who sat smashed and beat up in the infield. The tired face on Doc and the looks of the place around him from all the disaster seemed to be enough for clouds to block out the sun. The air grew cold and dark as the clouds joined into one mass, almost as if in mourning for this unfortunate accident._

_"Hudson!" Brian called to him, but there was no answer from the dazed racer._

_Officials and medics were just now rushing onto the track to aid Doc. Brian slipped past security and rushed up to him._

_"Hudson!" He yelled again as he approached the wreck. "Hudson, look at me!"_

_Again, there was no response from the almost unconscious car that sat before Brian. Doc's breathing started to become hollow and harsh as he fought to stay awake, the voice that called to him switched off too many memories at once. "Brian?" He asked weakly, a dull cough followed._

_Brian drove closer to Doc as the racer tried to open his eyes. The smoke emitting off of him caused both of them to wince and fight to see. "Yes, it's me! I'm here for you Hudson, stay with me..."_

_The officials began to drag Brian away. "Sir, you can't be here!"_

_"The hell I can't!" Brian started as he struggled to get free of their grip. "I'm his trainer!"_

_"Not from what I've heard." One of the officials shot back. They pushed Brian out of the track and behind the guard rails into the crowd. The crowd around Brian looked at him with sorrow and confusion._

_But as hard as Doc tried, and as hard as he tried to do what Brian asked of him, he couldn't give into that never suppressing urge to sleep. He closed his eyes as his panting and will to fight dwindled. He sighed once more. "Brian..." He whispered to himself, the cars working around him ignored him._

_Brian tilted up high on his frame to see the track. The medics were towing him off towards a better place, soon enough to send him to the hospital. Most likely the one that they had taken Colton to years ago._

_He threw himself backwards in disgust to look up at the owner's booth where Doc's new trainer and manager waited. They had done this to him, they had pushed Doc past his limits and caused all this._

_Rain started to fall, it began to blend in with the track's dirt and it slowly began to cover up what was left of Doc's crash. The chilly air of February only made everything in life seem even more distant. The cars in the crowd began to drive away, still feeling the effects of what had happened before them. There would be no more qualifying._

_Brian sat there, in the rain, as cars passed by him to leave the campus. He continued to watch the booth, and the movement within. He had never felt so angry, so wronged in his life. He shoved his way past the few remaining cars and towards the booth's ramp where he used to be, along with Dave and all his other friends._

_The three cars inside this booth were thoroughly pissed from what Brian could see. They were too busy arguing to see the soaking wet green car enter the raised room that towered over the main track._

_"Damn it, Leon! That's just perfect!" The first car yelled, backing up away from the large glass window. "We finally get The Fabulous Hudson Hornet as our racer, and he crashes!"_

_"Don't yell at me, Casey, you know damn well that I had no part in your training methods! You're the one who hired that car, Derek, to get him on our team! I'm just his manager!"_

_Brian sat back on his shocks, were they talking about the same Derek that he knew?_

_"Oh, shut it Leon! You have every involvement in this as I do! And now we're screwed! We have no racer, no money--"_

_"You have me, darling..." The third car purred as she drove from behind Casey to his side, nuzzling him._

_Brian recognized that car from the night before, it was Doc's new love interest._

_"Well," Brian said, finally cutting in. "If it isn't Slutty McSlut..." He had called her that the night before._

_The three cars turned to Brian who sat in the darkened doorway to the booth's exit. "Who the hell are you?" Casey sneered._

_"I believe the better question is who are you?"_

_Casey left the emerald green car's side and drove up to Brian to face him. "I'm Casey, Hudson's crew chief. Although, after what we just saw, why do I bother?"_

_Brian rolled back slightly. "You're just gonna dump him? Leave him?"_

_"He's worthless now, we have no use for him." Said Leon. "And all because of Casey over here," He said, glaring at the car next to him. "We have no racer for the whole damn season!"_

_"Shove it, Leon. You can find another racer, and you know that!"_

_"Hudson was finally working under our command, and you blew it!" Leon yelled, causing Casey to back up near the emerald green car._

_Brian turning his attention back to the girl. "You," He started. "You set Hudson up! You got his attention and tore him away from Laura!"_

_She laughed playfully and started to drive up to Brian. "I did what I had to do..." She said._

_"I can't believe that Slutty McSlut is the--"_

_"Hey," Casey said, driving up in front of Brian. "No one calls my girl that." The look on the car's face growing aggressive._

_Now Brian was completely in state of shock. He turned to the emerald car. "But, you're supposed to be Hudson's girlfriend--"_

_"Wrong, who ever you are. I'm Casey's girl, I've always been..."_

_Now Brian understood. She had Doc believe that she was his new girlfriend, but instead turned out to be cheating on him with his current crew chief, Casey. He sighed in disgust. "So, this was all one big set up?"_

_Leon laughed. "Yes, bravo, you're smarter than you look..."_

_Brian glared at Leon and approached him at a steady, determined pace. Before Leon had time to react, the green car shoved him into the wall and pinned him there. "Hey! Stop that!" Leon yelled, trying to get free of his current situation. The feeling that his chassis might buckle under the pressure was apparent, and he started to panic._

_As Casey and his girlfriend sat back to stay out of the fray, Brian pressed harder. "Because of you, someone might die! Because of your greed, my best friend's life is on the line! Do you have any idea what you've done?! Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused, not just with him?! You and your pissant crew chief have disrupted not only Hudson's life, but everyone else's! You stupid, worthless piece of junk that I've ever seen! You're gonna regret even thinking about doing such a thing! You're gonna regret ever becoming his manager, you're gonna regret hiring your lowly crew of yours! You're gonna regret living!"_

_Leon whimpered, "Okay, okay I'll talk! I'll talk!"_

_Brian shoved him up against the wall harder, the wall of the booth began to crack. "Talk about what?! There's nothing to talk about! The only thing you should be doing is begging my friends' forgiveness! This pain you're feeling now is nothing compared to what is capable! And on top of that, I'll make you feel so bad that you'll wish I killed you sooner!"_

_Leon feared for his life. "Derek!" He cried out._

_Brian backed up slightly upon hearing that name. It had been mentioned before, but he had forgotten about it until now. "What about him?"_

_Leon gasped for air. "Derek! It was his idea!"_

_"Idea for what?"_

_"He called us about his plan! He told us of a way to get The Fabulous Hudson Hornet as our racer!" _

_Leon choked on his breath, Brian decided that this probably wasn't the time or place to accidentally kill someone. He backed up away from Leon just enough for him to feel like confessing some more. "What else?"_

_"Derek had it all planned out. He found a way for me to be his manager, a way for Casey to be his crew chief."_

_"Were you there at the party?" Brian asked in a more threatening tone._

_"No, but Jill was." Leon said, gesturing to the emerald car._

_Brian scoffed and turned his attention back to Leon. "I know she was, moron! She's the one that screwed things up!"_

_Leon whimpered again at Brian's voice. "Please, if you're gonna yell at someone, yell at Derek. This was all his idea..."_

_Casey drove closer to Brian, but quickly backed up as the green car lashed around. "Sorry," He said, returning back to Jill. "I just wanted to let you know that Derek left. He left the state after he was satisfied that Hudson was ours."_

_Brian felt horrible, but he wasn't about to cry. He had driven Derek to the point of total revenge, if not already adding to what he had in store for him. Derek was long gone, most likely driving back to Tennessee right now._

_Brian backed up away from the three and against the wall. "I know for a fact that you're all useless. You'd stoop this low to have Hudson as your racer, it's pathetic. I never wanna see you three in this town again. In fact," He said, looking at Casey. "Quit your job as a crew chief, because I never wanna see your name in a racing guide." He looked at Leon. "Take your business elsewhere, the Piston Cup doesn't need a sponsor such as yourself."_

_Finally, Brian drove up to Jill who was terrified. "As for you," He started, staring at her with cold, cruel eyes. "I can't wait for you to find out what true love is. I can't wait for the day that you're finally happy, and ready to settle down. Because I'll make sure that you feel just as much pain as Laura does. I want you to know what it's like to live without the one you love. I'll be there that day, remember that."_

_Brian drove towards the door. Right before he exited, he turned back to look at the silenced three. "Don't think for one second that I won't hunt you down if I hear from you ever again. Because I've got a bar full of cars that hate life, and wouldn't mind watching me tear each of you apart. You three took a life, and twisted it. You took many lives, tore them screwed them up. You not only did that, but you put Hudson's life in danger, in harms way. And I didn't say that racing was safe, I'm saying that you don't care whether or not he's dead right now or not. If Hudson dies, I'm coming for you..."_

_Brian slammed the door to the booth behind him shut. It rattled the walls and shook the roof. The three swore they could see the glass on the window ready to break. The slam of the door caused multiple racing pictures on the wall to come crashing down._

_Casey, Leon and Jill looked at each other, not sure what to say. The sound of the rain on the roof being the only thing from keeping it deathly silent._

_Driving back to Dave's house in the pouring rain, Brian realized that he'd have to break the horrible news of Doc's crash to them. The thought that their fight last night could have been worked out some time bit at him, but death now stood as the only obstacle from having what they used to have. In his mind, Brian's thought for reconciliation would never come. He was right._

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brian slammed his tire against the wall of his cone violently. Remembering that day hurt too much. Of all the things to think of, he just _had _to remember that particular day.

"Damn these dreams..." He mumbled as he tried to collect himself.

He looked at the clock next to him. It was almost eleven o'clock, and he was just now waking up.

There was a knock on his door. "Brian? Are you okay?" It was Dave.

He sighed and opened the garage door. "I'm fine..." He told him. Dave began to back up as Brian drove down the ramp.

"I was just making sure." He said before driving back to the cafe.

Brian sat there a minute longer, looking around the town. They appeared to be busy, and the ones that weren't were deep in conversation at Flo's.

But then he looked towards Doc's clinic. The old car was driving out from behind back where his garage was. He was carrying a box, and soon he was pushing it inside his office.

Brian found it amazing that Doc never came back for any of the stuff that was in his room at Dave's house. He guessed he decided to leave it behind for them; maybe sell it off, maybe keep it for old memories.

Doc, at the current time, had all three of his Piston Cup trophies sitting proudly in the front office to the South Carolina Racing Headquarters. All three of them, sat in the window, for anyone on the campus to see that The Fabulous Hudson Hornet was trained here, right in that very town.

A week later, Brian went back to the campus to resign for the second time when he noticed that they were gone. He figured that Doc had asked someone to retrieve them for him.

He sighed and started to drive towards the clinic. Doc was about to go back into his garage when Brian caught him.

"Hey."

Doc turned around to face him. He smiled, "Morning, Brian."

"Can I ask you something?" Brian asked, doubt in his voice.

Doc looked at him carefully. It was rare that this particular car wanted help from anyone. "Yeah, sure."

Brian looked at the ground, then back into Doc's eyes. "What do you remember about your crash?"

Doc wasn't really prepared to answer_ that _kind of question. After all these years of trying to forget about those days, he didn't know what to tell Brian. "Well, not much. I mean, it's been a while since..."

Brian leaned forward. "Do you remember anything that happened? Anything on that day?"

Doc sat there, trying to think more on it. He had tried for the final time. "No, I can't remember anything."

Brian sighed sadly, that wasn't the answer he wanted to hear. "You don't remember a voice? Someone talking to you?"

Then it hit him, Doc's eyes lit up in shock as he saw a green blur on the track. The blur remained that way, then everything went black.

"Brian--"

Before Doc could finish, the car started to drive away from him. Brian sunk on his shocks as he headed towards Flo's. This really was screwed up. If only Doc had remembered that he was there, and that he still cared about him even though they fought, things would have turned out differently.

If Doc had remembered Brian being there that day in 1954, maybe they still could have been best friends all these years.

Doc sat there, still and hopeless. He realized it now, he understood everything. Brian didn't mean _all_ the things he said to him at the party, and he had come to see him race. "Brian!"

The green car turned back slowly, "I never hated you, Hudson. I'm sorry that you thought I did all these years..."

Brian continued on his way towards the cafe, leaving Doc to his thoughts. It wasn't all Brian's fault, he wanted to let him know that.

But right now, he thought, isn't the best time.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It was late that night in the cafe.

Doc was driving up to it to join everyone when he stopped and surveyed the surroundings. The only open spot at Flo's was next to Laura. He found it odd, and curiously turned his attention to the others.

He looked at Lightning, who held a subtle smile on his face. Next to him, was Brian who wore a scowl. He didn't seem to be pleased with what ever it is that was going on. Doc looked at Lightning once more, the red car winked and nodded towards Laura.

Doc gazed Laura's direction. This time, she noticed him sitting there, and cast him a small smile. The only thing he did was smile back before pulling up beside her and park.

Lightning had apparently set this up for him. As he looked at Brian and the kid across from him, he could see the stock car nudging an aggravated classic.

Doc would have laughed at Brian's expression and reaction to Lightning annoying him, but he was too nervous there with Laura. The only thing he felt like he could do was look at her and smile.

She smiled back, brighter. Laura gave him the smile that he missed, his favorite. That one smile he hadn't seen for a long time. The smile brought him home, to the times almost lost. The longer Doc looked her way, through the corner of his vision, the longer Laura held the smile that made him melt. He missed everything about her, and she'd never be his again.

Laura had given him that smile on purpose. Not to hurt him, but to show that she hadn't forgotten all that she knew about him.

She looked away from him, and back to what ever conversation was going around the cafe.

Doc sighed softly, "I love you." He whispered gently.

Laura shot him a side glance, "You say something?" She asked.

Doc panicked, he hoped she didn't hear him. "Huh? I didn't say anything, must be the wind..." He tried to cover up what he had blurted out. Luckily for him, Laura dropped it.

"Yeah, must be the wind." She resumed looking around the cafe.

Doc sighed in relief. He looked back across the cafe in front of him to Lightning and Brian. Lightning was trying to hold back a smile as Brian rolled his eyes.

Throughout others' conversations, Dave's voice began to over power theirs. Soon, everyone was listening to what Dave had to say. They could listen to him all day long because of his suavity. Everyone seemed to be listening to him ramble on, all except for Laura and Doc; they were in a world all to their own.

Across the cafe, Brian leaned closer to possibly hear Doc and Laura's conversation. But he couldn't, not with loud-mouth next to him. He glared at Dave, there was no way he could tell him to shut up without being rude.

He sighed and settled down, keeping a close eye on the two in front of him. Maybe he could try reading their lips as they talked.

"Ow."

Brian looked at Lightning to his right. "What you do?"

"I bit my tongue..." He said, correcting his frame where he sat.

"Well don't do that."

"You can't honestly tell me that you've never bitten your tongue before, Brian..."

"I bite my tongue when I'm having a hard time keeping my insults to myself."

Lightning reflected on a conversation he had with Brian earlier. "Bite harder, because it's not effective yet."

Brian glared at Lightning, trying hard not respond to his retort.

The stock car laughed slightly. "You biting your tongue?" He asked.

Brian breathed in deep and nodded before taking his gaze off of his current annoyance. He looked back at Laura and Doc.

Although Laura wasn't acting like it, Doc could swear that she still cared about his presence. He decided to speak up.

"So," He asked, clearing his throat. "I heard you were married. How's that working out?"

Laura was hoping she could avoid this conversation until another time. But with Brian hawking them down all the time, she figured this was her only chance to say something. "It's going great, we're going to Cancun next month."

"Is he rich?" Doc asked plainly.

Laura gave Doc a questionable look, this conversation could be fun. "Not as rich as you think, but Jim makes good money..." She replied.

Doc perked up a bit, "I thought your husband's name was John?"

Laura's eyes widened in shock, had she screwed up? Right then and there she thought that the lie she was told to keep was ruined. She didn't want to divulge the truth at the current moment. Laura quickly improvised. "Oh! Sometimes we use his middle name... cars get confused at times..."

Doc sat there, thinking about that statement. "Your husband's name is John Jim?"

Laura avoided eye contact with Doc, this wasn't going good at all. "Hudson?"

"Yeah?"

She sighed. "We need to talk..."


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER NINE**

Brian lifted his frame off the cafe's floor as he watched Doc and Laura silently switch into reverse and back out of Flo's.

As Dave continued to ramble on about something, Brian started to drive after them when a tire was placed on his right fender.

"Don't go, leave them alone." Lightning warned.

Brian shoved off his tire and glared at the rookie. "You little twit, you don't know what you're talking about!" He whispered harshly.

Apparently, too loud. Dave stopped talking as all the townsfolk looked towards Brian and Lightning.

"Something the matter?" Dave asked through gritted teeth. He knew damn well what Brian was getting worked up about, and he wasn't in the mood to discuss it.

Brian looked at most of the eyes upon him. Lightning sat there with a subtle smirk as he, too, looked at him.

"No, nothing's wrong, Dave..." He told him, lowering himself back down to the cold floor. Brian sighed and looked at the ground in front of him, he would have stopped Doc and Laura from leaving if it wouldn't have created such a disturbance.

Dave resumed his conversation about something great while Brian consumed himself in his own thoughts. Tonight, he would talk to Doc when he got back.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Laura and Doc met under the streetlight of the middle of town.

"Where's a place we can go?"

Doc looked at Laura with concern. "Is everything okay?" He asked.

Laura sighed impatiently, "Hudson, I'll explain when we find some place to talk alone..." She said, turning to look around the town.

Doc thought on that a minute. He wanted desperately to find out what was bothering Laura so much. "We can go up to the mountains?" He suggested.

Laura turned to him, "Wonderful, lets go."

She turned to leave out of town towards Tailfin Pass when Doc caught her with a tire. What could possibly have her so anxious?

When she turned back around to look at him, he was speechless. Doc stared at her, his grill hung open in a failed attempt to form words.

"Yeah?" She asked after a moment of silence.

Doc shook himself from his thoughts. "Never mind, lets go..." He said, driving past her towards the mountains.

Laura caught up to him, passing him. "C'mon, lets go before Brian decides to stop us..."

Doc braked where he was. "What's Brian got to do with this?"

She turned back to look at him, "I'll explain later, okay?" She continued on her way, Doc wasn't hesitant this time.

There was no need for headlights, the moon was enough to light up the entire valley. Once they reached the mountain's side, they found themselves under the shadows of the trees. Patches of moonlit road ever so often being their guide up the side of the mountain.

Doc pulled up beside her. "Is this good enough?" He asked as they came to a clearing over a small hill.

Slowing down, Laura considered it. "This is fine."

They pulled off the main road to the side. The cliff overlooked the town and all it's neon lights it so proudly displayed at night. Laura pulled up towards the edge, leaving Doc's side.

He watched her steady form through the silence that was now cast between them.

She sighed and turned around to face Doc. "Oh don't give me that look," She laughed playfully.

He tilted on his frame, the moonlight reflecting off her cherry red chassis shone in a brilliant way. "What's wrong? You wouldn't talk to me on the drive here..."

She turned away from him and looked at the town, this wasn't going to be easy on either of them she supposed. "Hudson... I gotta tell you something."

Doc pulled up beside her and gazed down upon the town with her. "I'm listening."

A slight pause before she began. "I'm not married."

Doc froze where he was next to her, that simple statement threw him into another dimension. "Wait, what?" There was no way he heard her correctly.

"I'm not married," She repeated. "It was a cover-up..."

Doc sighed, "A cover-up for what?"

Laura closed her eyes, avoiding his side stare. "I wasn't even supposed to come here, Hudson. So when I finally convinced the others to let me come, they told me to say that I was married..."

Doc looked at the ground and shifted his tires. "What good would that do?"

"They all said that it was for the best that we never saw each other again. Saying that I was married was supposed to protect both of us."

Doc thought on that. He looked over at her. "It was Brian's idea, wasn't it?"

Laura nodded.

He sighed once more, "Didn't he ever think that I'd find out eventually?"

She cast a quick glance at him. "He's been trying hard to avoid that. He's tried hard to keep it a secret."

Now what am I supposed to say, Doc thought, this is as awkward as it gets.

Laura shifted on her weight and leaned her chassis against Doc's. It surprised him at first, but he accepted it, and latched onto that feeling like he'd never have it again.

That moon was almost blinding, it cut through the night strong and effortlessly. The silence around them could have been the only thing more powerful than the moon above them. Doc could hear Laura's breathing.

He looked at her beside him, she had closed her eyes.

Doc didn't know what to say to her. Knowing now that she wasn't married opened up the world he'd never have again. Thinking that she was married stopped Doc's dream of Laura being his. It was a painful reality, but it was true none the less. That once locked door was now open, and it haunted him because of the fact that she was available. Too many things stood in the way for them to be happy again, and that's what kept that door unreachable.

To know that door was open and there, just tortured him more. He wished Laura hadn't told him that she wasn't married, because now he hurt all over. It was an invitation he had no choice but to deny.

He missed times like these, he'd love to have nights such as this come back to him; for her, too.

But that wouldn't be possible. A couple days from now, this wonderful time would be drug away forever. Unless some miracle happened, something amazing would have to present itself.

Doc felt Laura press against him harder, he could see her try to shut her eyes tighter. He guessed she was trying to push away those same thoughts as well.

He gently leaned back against her to comfort her. A light breeze ventured through the mountains and swayed the trees around them, creating a lonesome sound. This moment came at a cost, and they could both feel it.

The two of them sunk low to the ground in deep thought of their current dismay. What happened after this, no one knew.

Doc sighed, he'd have to ask this question even if he already knew the answer. "Do you still love me?"

A moment of painful thoughts before her answer. "Yes, always have..." She whispered.

He could see himself chained down in a hazy world in his thoughts. Those chains didn't seem to be connected to anything around him. There was nothing in front of him, behind or underneath. He didn't know where he was or what he was doing, but he was chained.

But then, in front of him, good times and old memories danced in front of him wildly. The better side of days that were almost forgotten, almost gone. Images and past hopes of his other life played out before him like a movie.

Now he knew why he was chained. As he pulled and tugged against the never forgiving chains, he cried out trying to get to those happier times. Laura's sweet laughter echoed around him in the sea foam green haze while the memories started to leave him, disappear, fade away and vanish forever.

Doc opened his eyes and was immediately greeted by the darkness of the night. He looked up into the sky, the moon blocking the stars.

"I love you, too." He said softly as he nuzzled her. "I promise, I'll find a way to make things better."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

He sighed impatiently. The town was dark, only the lone streetlight lighting up what ever was in it's reach. Death silence hung over the place where many cars had been sleeping for quite some time. The moon had disappeared behind the one of many clouds that formed, the sky was no longer clear.

Staying up until one o'clock in the morning wasn't Brian's idea of fun, especially for the reason behind such a task. But then again, he wasn't looking forward to those dreams of his either.

He shifted his tires on the pavement in front of Doc's clinic trying to get comfortable once more. Who knows how much longer he'd be waiting for him and Laura to get back into town.

Brian looked his clinic up and down. It was everything he'd picture for a small town country doctor. Simplicity, he liked it. This clinic was better than that hospital he was stationed at all those years ago.

Luckily for Brian, whenever Doc and Laura got here, they wouldn't see him. The shadows were in his favor, and the streetlight was just far enough away.

But even more lucky for Lightning. He had been sitting on the other side of Doc's clinic near his garage, waiting for the car himself. He'd been waiting here long before Brian rolled up in front of the double doors.

Brian was unaware of the stock car's presence. It never occurred to him that someone else might want a conversation with Doc tonight. It had been quiet enough, he never had reason to suspect another car near him.

Lightning had questioned himself on whether or not he should tell Brian that he was there, but eaves dropping was fun. Why not play a game and make this interesting? Who knows how much information he could gain.

In the distance, Brian heard two engines approaching from the west from the mountain range. He couldn't see them, but he would once they passed the courthouse. He sighed when he saw two figures rolling down the street towards him, trying their best to keep their engines quiet so as to not wake anyone up.

Doc and Laura pulled into the Cozy Cone slowly. Brian was just hoping that they wouldn't -- and they did...

The two cars kissed.

Brian sighed sadly, he saw that coming. He didn't care who made the first move, but that goodnight kiss was more like a goodbye one. They sure made it seem that way.

Laura pulled away and smiled. "I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Doc smiled back. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

They sat there, admiring what they had. Wondering how this had escaped them all those years ago.

Doc smirked and drove behind Laura and to her cone. He opened the garage door and held out a tire. "For you, darling."

Laura smiled brighter and switched into reverse to back into her cone. The small lamp inside outlining her figure. She looked Doc up and down. "Another goodnight kiss, Hudson?"

He drove up the ramp towards her and gave her one. "Sweet dreams."

"You, too." She said before closing the door.

Doc didn't leave until he couldn't see her anymore. In fact, he didn't want to leave. He didn't want to leave her, ever again. The world was different to him now, she was here with him.

He began to drive back to his office when he braked halfway. From what he could see, an enraged green car sat perfectly still in front of the double doors. "Brian?" He asked, quite surprised to see him sitting there.

Brian wasn't sure who he was more mad at. Laura for spilling the secret, or Doc for leading her on afterwards. He continued to sit there in silence.

Doc continued to his office. He understood now why he was sitting there, he remembered his conversation earlier with Laura at the mountain, and how Brian was behind all this.

"Brian--"

"Are you going back out with her?" He asked, glaring at the navy car. He had heard their conversation clearly from all the way over here, not to mention seen it.

"No, we aren't." He said firmly. "But it's not any of your business..."

Brian rolled back a bit upon hearing that. His eyes flickered behind him for a split second, something caught his attention. "None of my business? Listen, Hudson, I don't want anyone to get hurt."

"Hurt?" Doc asked in disbelief. "You should have thought of that sooner."

"Hey, I'm trying to be nice here. If it wasn't for everyone sleeping, I'd have came over to the Cozy Cone and stopped that nonsense..."

"Nonsense? You call what Laura and I have nonsense... That's real great, Brian."

Brian sighed and closed his eyes. "I don't want to argue with you, Hudson. I had to tell you she was married. I just did what I thought would be best for everyone."

"I understand that. But now that Laura is here, I'm not letting her go."

There was a moment of silence between the two cars. "Wait, what are you talking about?"

Doc sighed, "I'm gonna ask her to stay here with me."

Lightning's eyes widened in shock. He tried his best to keep himself quiet as his mind screamed. He guessed Brian had the same response.

"What?!" Brian roared.

"Keep your voice down," Doc warned. "We don't want the whole town to know our conversation..."

Brian bit his lower lip as he looked around erratically, trying to find something to say. "You haven't mentioned that to Laura yet, have you?" He asked.

"No, I'm gonna ask her--"

"You can't ask her that. Hudson, it'll be a mistake. Don't do that, please." He begged.

Doc looked at him questionably. "Why not? Laura can do what ever she wants."

"It's not up to you to ask such a big question. I can't let you ask her."

"And who's gonna stop me?" Doc challenged.

Brian narrowed his eyes at him. "That would be me."

Doc, for some reason, took that threat seriously. "What's wrong with asking her to stay here with me?"

Brian sighed again, "Listen, she's got a life... and friends back in South Carolina that she can't leave. I'm not gonna let you take her away from that."

"But I love her." Doc told him.

"And her friends and I love her. They've been there for her all this time, not you. And because of that, I won't let you jump back into this expecting for everything to be okay. What have you got to offer her here? What can you_ possibly _give her in this town? There's nothing here for her. I'm sorry, but I can't let you put Laura in that kind of position."

Reality hit Doc a second time. "Then why did she come back here to see me if she wasn't looking for anything?"

"She came here to say goodbye, something she didn't get to do in 1954..."

Doc sat there in silence, that one stung.

"It's time you let this go." Brian started. "Just because she showed up again, like you didn't expect her to, doesn't give you the right to ask such a big question at a time like this."

Doc was distraught, and intent on finding a solution. He tried all he had, and finally, he spoke. "Things are different now. Why are you so determined to stop us?"

Brian glared at him with an anger that was too ineffable. He couldn't understand why Doc wasn't getting what he was talking about, and why he was blind to the fact that he would hurt everyone.

He decided to dig up some pain, just for him. "Because you know why? At one point, I got sick of watching her cry. I got sick of trying to answer that one question that remained. None of us ever understood why you did what you did. You'll never know how hard it was on all of us, not just her."

He was bringing Doc down, he could see it in his eyes.

Brian breathed in deep. "For all those times she crashed at Dave's house to seek comfort from all of us, I wanna let you know that _we_ were there for her. Not _you_, Hudson. We were in her life, not you..."

Doc took his gaze to the ground. Before he could speak, Brian continued.

"You don't even know her! At this moment, you're meeting her for the first time all over again. Only now, we aren't in 1952 on our way to the season's last Piston Cup race."

Doc sunk low to the ground, he wanted Brian to stop.

"Oh yeah, you remember that night? The night you first met her, don't you? Don't forget, if it wasn't for my stupid drinking habit, you would have never met her in that bar. I bet you think about that all the time..."

Doc nodded.

"You know what your problem is? You forgot who your real friends were. You left us all, you ran away. Not once did you try and contact us when you got out of the hospital." Brian rose up off the ground slightly. "You quit."

Doc looked up from the pavement. "I didn't--"

"Shut up," Brian snipped, leaning forward. "You don't have the right to talk. I don't think you fully understand this situation. Maybe you do, but I highly doubt that. From the moment we got here, I could see that this would be all about Laura..."

Doc looked at him questionably. He wanted to reply to that, but something told him that he shouldn't.

"Lemme ask you something, Hudson. Have all your thoughts been consumed around her, or have you figured out that certain cars are missing?"

"I noticed something was off..." he said, reflecting on Dave and Joanna's divorce. He still didn't know where James and Mason were.

"That's only the beginning, the very top layer. There is _so much _more you've missed out on, _so much _that you don't know!"

The lies, the secrets, the betrayals that happened all those years ago. He wondered, and it drove him crazy. Doc wanted a chance to get to know his old friends all over again.

"But anyways, getting back to Laura." Brian announced sarcastically. "I won't let you ask her to stay with you. You don't know our lives, and you certainly don't know hers."

He began to drive away when Doc stopped him. "A race." He stated simply.

Brian turned back and looked at him. "A race for what?"

"If I win, I ask Laura to stay here with me. If you win, everyone leaves here and no further attempts for me to make things right are tried."

"That's a hell of a reason to race." Brian said, driving towards Doc. "You sure you wanna race me?"

Doc thought about the condition of Brian's engine. It was a long shot, but he was willing to try. "A race." He repeated.

Brian smirked. Yeah, he was going to take him up on that race, but only to see how much he really wanted Laura. "You pick the time and track."

Doc glared at him, angry about everything said between them. He backed into his office for the night. The double doors to his office shut, and the death silence returned.

He sighed and started to drive towards his cone. "You can come out now, kid."

That caught Lightning by surprise. "How'd you know I was there?" He asked, pulling up beside Brian on his way back to the Cozy Cone.

"Rearview mirrors, idiot..."

"Oh."

"So you finally got your wish. You finally figured out what I've been trying to hide. Congratulations, kid..."

"I didn't want to have to find out about everything _that_ way..."

The two reached the courtyard of the Cozy Cone. Brian turned to Lightning. "Just keep the information you know to yourself. I don't need Dave and Sadie brought into this just yet, got it?"

Lightning nodded. "I may be nosy, but I don't blab."

"Good boy, now go home." He said, driving away from him to his cone. He opened up the door and proceeded to back into it when Lightning drove up to him.

"Sorry."

Brian scoffed and backed into his cone. "For what? You haven't done anything."

"Sorry for what ever happened in the 50's."

Brian sat there, unsure of what to say. "It's not your fault..." He went to close the door to end the conversation when Lightning stopped him.

"You may act like a total jerk, but you're not such a bad guy. You care about everyone."

Brian sighed, "It's way past your bedtime, get going."

Lightning laughed slightly before turning to leave. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah yeah..." Brian said, shutting the garage door.


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER TEN**

_He sat there, shaking so hard that he could no longer see clearly. Everything in the room, including the other cars were blurry. It got to the point when only shutting his eyes gave him a moment of peace. But sleep, he had enough sleep. Sleeping was all he did in an attempt to forget about the terrible shakes he got._

_Brian had never been deprived of liquor, ever in his life. It was always there, and that's what led to his own downfall to become an alcoholic._

_Sitting there on the recovery floor of the hospital in a corner all by himself, Brian tried hard to focus in on things around him. His shaking got worse the more he thought about drinking, and how long he had gone without it. He had been out cold for three months, and the past two months he had been up and getting used to his new engine, life was all about pain and misery._

_Not even visits from Sadie made him happy. In fact, he didn't want her to come. For the first time in his life, he didn't want to see Sadie. Brian didn't want his wife to see him like this, it was sad. He was at his low, and acting at his lowest._

_Brian became cruel, mean to the point that if you weren't his doctor, to stay away unless you wanted to be struck by him. He was always irritable, rude and nasty. Nothing could make him happy, nothing. The only thing Brian could think about is the day he got out of this damn hospital, and to a place that supplied the strongest liquor in town._

_What nearly killed him, didn't phase his thoughts._

_These last few days, Brian had been narrowing down his choices of the drinks he'd like to shoot down first. What brands, how many shots, and what kind of beer to chase it down with. Brian had it all planned out._

_His shaking intensified as his engine starved for liquor again. The pain he was feeling was the worst he's ever felt. He didn't know it could get worse, but it did with each passing day. A new level of hell was being added each time, it seemed._

_There in his little corner of the room, Brian avoided contact with everyone else. He glared at anyone who came near him, not afraid to strike at the cars who got too close. The snarl and evil eyes he wore was enough to scare anyone away._

_His doctor, Colby, was the only one he allowed to come near him. He brought good news before he had Brian start his daily routine for recovery. It was a pain in the bumper, but it usually made his engine feel better, and it certainly helped to get drinking off his mind for a little while._

_Brian swore that Colby was out to get him. He could swear that he wanted him to feel the pain he was now in. Like it was all some sort of payback for drinking all these years. Of course, there were consequences, but Brian somehow came to the conclusion that Colby was making things worse._

_Colby refused to give Brian medicine to make the ache in his engine go away, or to help stop the shaking. The doctor said he would prescribe no medicine on his 'route to recovery' from alcohol during this time. If Brian got dependant on the medicine now, there's no doubt that the car would switch right from alcohol to the pills as an escape._

_"You're almost there! If you can make it through this, you won't need the medicine or the alcohol," Colby always told Brian. But that was easier said than done. If Brian had known the withdraws for liquor would be this bad, he would have never started._

_It was that never-forgiving feeling that kept nagging at him to get his next drink soon. He needed it, he craved for it, it was apart of him. It had been a part of him all his life, ever since the beginning. And that's what made it so difficult. Now it was gone, a piece of him was missing._

_For two months, two months Brian begged any visitors he had to slip him a drink. But they refused. They knew better, even if it meant getting shunned and yelled at by Brian._

_"Just one drink, that's all I need..." Brian said to himself as he pressed harder against the wall behind him. "Just one..." He pleaded._

_He was anxious, restless to the maximum. He needed to run, run out of this place and run until he couldn't anymore. He had too much energy, more than he ever imagined that he could. But if being this healthy meant dealing with those withdraws, then he'd go back to his bad habit without hesitation._

_"If you can hang on for a little while longer, there won't be anymore withdraws for drinks. Trust me, I'm a doctor, I know other patients like you." Those sentences repeated itself in Brian's mind over and over again. The more they did, the more he didn't believe Colby's words. It seemed like an eternity, living with the damn symptoms of an alcoholic, and the side effects kept getting worse._

_There were other alcoholics on the recovery floor of the hospital, but none as bad as Brian. They had an idea about what he was going through, but didn't dare to approach him. They stayed on the other side of the room with the other patients to keep safe._

_Brian slammed a tire against the wall next to him. Sitting here was driving him crazy, he had to get out. It was torture, absolute agony. In that moment, he wished he was dead. He quickly got rid of those thoughts, he had too much to live for. That reason was probably the only one that stopped him from doing other things to distract him from the withdraws. Thanks to him, the other cars on the recovery floor could no longer enjoy the fresh air that an open window brought._

_Brian sighed, trying to calm himself. He sank down to the floor, it seemed to help his shaking a little. Finding peace was hard to do in a place filled with twenty extra cars that had nothing else to do but talk all day long._

_He watched some of the new cars on this floor trying out their improved engines, the ones that just got out of their rooms and were allowed to be mobile for the first time. As others were happy to be healthy and active again, Brian was the only one who wished he was still cooped up in his hospital room knocked out cold. Exercise he could do without, even though he needed it badly._

_The shaking stopped, and now his tires twitched._

_Again, he slammed his tire against the wall in an attempt to knock some sense into his tires so that they'd stop. It worked, but his nerves were still on end. At any moment, he felt he might jump up and hit the roof._

_Brian turned his evil glare towards a car that was coming straight at him. Lucky for that car, Brian actually tolerated this one._

_"What do you want, Alex?" Brian asked, trying to suppress his annoyance._

_Alex, Brian's friend in the room next to his, cautiously inched forward. "I brought you a glass of water."_

_Brian eyed the muscle car in front of him. The offering was so random, it made him think twice. "What for?"_

_He shrugged on his shocks, not looking Brian in the eye. "I dunno, I just thought maybe you'd want one..."_

_Brian sat there, thinking on that. The rock music Alex so loudly blared from his room from time to time might have been obnoxious, but all in all Brian liked the kid. He admired his bravery, sense of humor, and common knowledge of the world. Alex may have been obsessed with racing, but the kid knew what he was doing in life._

_The green car managed a smile for him before taking the glass of water. Any other car, Brian would have flipped it out of their grip and chucked the glass towards the other side of the room. "Thanks..." He told him, before setting the empty glass next to him._

_Alex still sat there, as if he was trying to find the words to say._

_Brian noticed this. "You okay?"_

_He fidgeted on the tile floor, looking around at the pure white hospital walls around him. "I was just wondering if you were okay..." He admitted rather quietly._

_"Alex, you shouldn't worry about me. I'm getting what I deserve after all these years... It's not your problem, okay?"_

_The muscle car nodded, looking down at the floor before him. He decided that he might as well ask his question now. "You're not gonna start drinking again after you get out, are you?"_

_Brian wanted the kid to look him in the face during that moment of silence between them. That way he could have noticed the hurt look that Brian wore, almost as if deeply changed by his words. He didn't expect Alex to care, so what was he supposed to say now?_

_Alex took that silence as a yes and turned away. The car had come so far..._

_Brian sighed as he watched him leave. He didn't want his only friend of two months to be disappointed with him. "Hey!" He called out._

_The racer turned back without answering, expecting Brian to talk first._

_"Am I still invited to your first race? You know, when you get out of here?"_

_Alex breathed in deep. "Only if you're sober."_

_Brian sank lower to the floor as Alex continued on his way back to his other friends on the recovery floor. He thought about all the anger he'd be experiencing after he, himself, got out of this hospital for good. He'd have to face Dave, his worst fear. His best friend all these years was going to give him hell. He was sure of it. All this time in the hospital, Brian had been preparing to argue with Dave. Some things were going to be said that should never be uttered._

_Another thought hit Brian._

_What was he going to say to the guys at the bar about his disappearance if he ever went back? He was sure that Sadie had told them the truth, but facing them was going to be tough. "You almost drank yourself to death, Brian..." He mumbled as he tipped over the glass next to him with a flip of his tire. The clank of the glass hitting the floor catching a few cars' attention. "Great way to go..."_

_The entrance to the recovery floor was violently slammed open as two doctors drove through and steadily approached Brian. Others in the room watched as they parked in front of him. One was Colby, the other Brian didn't know._

_"Good afternoon, Brian." Colby started. "This here is my trainee. He's going to be with us all day during your routine." Brian glared at the newbie doctor as Colby continued. "I expect him to be with us until you get out of the hospital, which will be in two weeks. My trainee needs experience with difficult patients, and I decided to pick you." By now, Colby had gotten used to Brian's behavior and attitude, but that didn't mean he enjoyed being around him. Brian was lucky that Colby was the only doctor willing to put up with him._

_Brian's smirk quickly turned into a childish, playful grin. The young doctor's determined face now weakened as he swallowed hard. The newbie had no idea just how difficult and stubborn Brian could be when he wanted. He was in for the worst two weeks of his life. After this, he'd no longer want to pursue his life as a doctor._

_Brian was going to have fun, at least his last two weeks were going to be interesting. "Let the games begin."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

_The music was wonderful. The live band that performed knew just what tune to play throughout the night. The place was alive, there wasn't one car that was having a bad time. The 1954 Piston Cup celebration was what Doc always looked forward to. Here, he got to talk with the other racers, hang out with exclusive fans and party until you passed out._

_February was cold, therefore the party was held inside. Which made it perfect for a certain car._

_Derek kept to himself at the party to avoid being seen by any of Doc's friends. He hadn't received an invitation, and getting past the bouncers was hard enough. It was being spotted by Brian or Sadie that had him worried. He had come here for Doc, to find and talk to him. His plan was almost complete, he just needed to lure Doc away from his friends._

_He stopped behind one of the many house plants that sat near the corners, watching Doc talk to his friends in the circle they formed around each other. They were talking and laughing all while enjoying one of the many drinks served at the party._

_Derek knew their names, all of them. He had picked up information along the way to identify the cars in the circle. Right away he recognized Brian and Sadie who sat side by side. Remembering more names, he singled out Dave and Joanna as the married couple through pictures he stumbled across in the newspaper. He then saw Doc's crew, Mason and James. Average cars, but good cars none the less._

_The next two cars in the circle, Doc and Laura. Derek needed to get Doc away from her. He knew for a fact that the blue car had never seen him, nor heard of his name. That information he had to be sure about for this plan to work._

_He sat there a moment longer, looking at the couple. He almost felt sorry for her, how he was going to intentionally break them apart for his own completion. Derek smiled, he didn't feel sorry enough to call off the plans, that was for damn sure._

_From what he could see sitting behind them, Laura was a good looking girl. He had never been this close to her, she was prettier up close. Thoughts of a relationship crossed his mind. "Maybe it could work out after this..." Derek got rid of those thoughts. He doubted that she'd leave this town and move to Tennessee._

_Derek looked over to his side where Jill and Casey were, who sat on the other side of the room, waiting for their cue to move in. Casey was the one who was going to convince Doc to sign the papers and join their team. Jill, Casey's current girlfriend, she was going to be... well, Jill._

_He started to whisper to Doc, trying to get his attention. "Hey... hey! You, the blue car!" His whispering got louder as the music advanced. "Hudson Hornet!" He finally snapped._

_Doc flinched and turned around to see who called his name. He left his circle of friends and towards the direction he heard his name. "Yeah?" He called blindly._

_Derek moved out from behind the plant. "Good to see you, Mr. Hornet. How are you this evening?"_

_Doc looked at the car oddly. Who the hell was this, and why was he talking to him like they were old friends? "What's your name?" He asked, looking the car over._

_Derek smiled wide. "My name's Derek." He said, rocking back and forth on his tires. "Mind if I talk to you a minute?"_

_The racer considered it for a moment, briefly glancing back to look at his friends in his mirror. "No, no I don't mind. What about?"_

_Derek laughed to himself, his plan was working. It was all up to Casey and Jill from here on in. This was it. Tonight was either going to be a success or failure. "Come with me, there are some cars I'd like you to meet..."_

Doc opened his eyes, immediately greeted by reality. He could have swore he was at the party, he felt like it. Up until today, Doc had forgotten all about it. Waking up to the small confines of his office seemed a bit weird at first. He could remember the sights and sounds of the party. And that name... the name he heard in his dream. Derek.

He wished he didn't have as many drinks as he did in 1954 that one night, because he would have never signed himself over to the team he did.

"If I ever see your face again, I'll pound your hood in." Doc said, repeating what Brian had said to him that night. Those words had stuck with him all these years. It was the only thing that he could never forget, never get rid of.

Doc started up his engine and pushed his way through the double doors to his office. Others were already gathering at Flo's, some still wandering around town. He looked over across the street to the Cozy Cone, just exiting his cone was Brian. It didn't take long for the green car to notice him, either.

The two glared at each other from a distance for a while. They were interrupted by another cone's garage door opening up. Laura rolled down the small ramp and parked beside Brian, wondering what he was looking at. Catching his gaze, she suddenly felt uneasy. Something told her she better leave, and that she did. She left Brian's side and went directly to the cafe.

The two stared at each other a moment longer before Doc decided to head towards Flo's himself.

Brian stayed on his side of the street, giving the other car some space, until he parked in one of the stalls to the cafe. If Doc was going to be difficult, so was he. He wanted to work things out, but Doc was going to have to make that move first. It was all up to him on whether or not this could be solved. Brian didn't come here to fight, and was more than willing to talk things out.

He parked in his usual spot, between Dave and Lightning. This way, he could easily glare at Doc who sat in front of him, Laura by his side.

She also needs to be glared at, he thought.

Laura noticed Brian's angry feature. He wasn't a morning car, but there was something different about him today. She figured that Brian and Doc had an exchange of words last night. So she sat there, awkward and shy, avoiding eye contact with them.

Lightning hadn't forgot anything said between those two. He knew Doc's background must have been depressing, but he didn't know why up until last night. No wonder his friends were so bitter.

The rookie was more scared of when Doc would finally figure out that he had been eaves dropping on their conversation, and now knows the whole plan behind the race. He kept wondering what Doc would say, hopefully the gruff old car wouldn't yell at him for such a thing.

Dave noticed how tense the four to his right looked. He glanced at Brian, who only offered an intense stare stating flatly to back off.

Dave glared back. He had a good idea of what was happening, but didn't know just how much had gone on the night before. "Don't start," He demanded. "Not this early in the morning, alright?"

Brian looked away from Dave, refusing to acknowledge his request to keep the peace.

Starting up his engine, Doc drove out of the cafe without excusing himself. He managed a small snarl to send in Brian's direction for all that was said between them last night. He couldn't believe the nerve Brian had, or the fact that he had lied to him already. But as he drove across the ground back to his office, he looked down at it in shame, realizing that it really _was_ for the best. There was no backing down now, he couldn't apologize to Brian. That's something his pride wouldn't let him do at the moment.

Brian sighed, this isn't how he wanted his friendship to end... again. If only he could get that through to Doc. Then he noticed it, each dispute between them involved Laura. That thought brought out a small chuckle from him.

Laura took this time to talk to Brian, not caring that Lightning would hear her. With his eyes still on her, she spoke to him. "I'm sorry," She said. "I didn't mean for you and Hudson to start fighting. I'm sorry..."

Brian sighed again, "We're not fighting, yet. We're just refusing to have a conversation..." He looked at her deeply, confused at her actions. "Laura, why'd you tell him? Why'd you tell him you weren't married? We agreed that you'd keep it a secret."

Laura didn't have an answer.

Brian knew she shouldn't have come along, he didn't know why he wasn't firm on his decision. "What were you expecting to happen?" He was disappointed with her, she put Doc in a situation he didn't want to be in. He was sure that Doc had high expectations for this visit to be the best thing that ever happened to him.

"It doesn't have to end like this, right? I mean, this vacation can still end happy?"

Brian considered that a moment. It really depended on how the race turned out. It also depended on who apologized first. "I don't know..." He told her. There was no way he could call off the race. Brian was just hoping that Doc was true to his word, and wouldn't ask Laura to stay here with him unless he won their bet.

He sank down lower, resting his chassis on the floor of the cafe. He really couldn't center all the blame on Laura for this, but he would until a reason_ not to _showed up.

Damn it, he thought, this was supposed to be a happy reunion.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Doc pushed a box in his office away from him sharply, the inanimate object was pissing him off. He did small circles in his office, pacing around as he thought. It did little to help, but it was better than nothing.

"What to do... what to do..." He mumbled, finally coming to a stop. He parked in front of the double doors as if he would leave, although he couldn't bring himself to head back to the cafe. He had made a dramatic exit for all to see that he was upset, and upset he was.

Laura, the love of his life was right here. The car he missed the most was in Radiator Springs, turns out to actually be _single_, and she doesn't hate him. It was so perfect, and perfect because it was real. But this fact of life was about to turn ugly.

Brian was right, he couldn't ask Laura to stay here with him. And if Doc didn't get himself back on track, he was going to lose his best friend.

Doc began pacing again. What if he had to choose? What if he chose Laura and she didn't want to stay, he'd lose both cars. His pacing quickened, this was a mess. He didn't know what his choices were at the moment. Apologizing to Brian wasn't an option right now, and ducking out of the race wasn't either.

Dave, he could talk to Dave about this. Yeah, he'd understand what he was going through for sure.

He stopped pacing again. He couldn't pull Dave away from the townsfolk without Brian or Laura seeing him. He'd wait until tonight to bring this up, and tell him what was going on. Dave had filled him in on past events that he missed out on, the least Doc could do was explain the reason behind Brian's attitude. Dave was a good guy, one who'd listen to him, and consider both sides of the problem before pushing his own opinion in.

The last thing Doc wanted between him and his old friends was a fight. But as long as this fight stayed between him and Brian, things could get better.

He sighed, there was a knock on his door. "Come in."

Lightning peeked through the doors. "You alright?" He was cautious not to enter without permission. Doc rolled his eyes slightly as he gestured for him to come through all the way. He parked in front of the double doors.

"What makes you think I'm not okay?" He asked, although he was pretty sure the kid had a good idea. If there was one car he didn't want involved in this, it was him.

Lightning looked over at something that caught his attention. "What happened to the box?"

Doc glanced over at it. "It fell."

"From where?"

"Don't worry about..." He said, casually sliding it away in a corner with his tire. Doc was more than ready for the kid to get out of his office and leave him to his peace. He pretended to clean his surroundings, hoping Lightning was buying it; maybe even get the hint to drop what ever conversation he wanted to have.

The rookie couldn't see past the mask. "So what's wrong?"

It was none of the kid's business. Doc turned to him with a stern look. "Nothing's wrong." He said, trying to confirm his doubts.

Lightning decided that it was now or never to tell Doc he knew. "I," He started, finding it hard to look Doc in the eye. "I know about--"

There was another knock on the door. "Come in," Doc commanded, agitated at this point.

It was Dave who pushed open the double doors, which in return smacked Lightning across his rear. The kid yelped and pulled forward, surprised by the hit. Now Doc was even more crammed in his office, he reversed farther against the wall.

The doors swung back and closed on Dave who, by now, had come halfway through. "Sorry," He directed towards Lightning, who was trying to do his best three-point turn. "I didn't know anyone else was in here. Am I interrupting anything too important?"

Doc looked from Dave to Lightning. "You were saying that you know about--"

"Nothing." Lightning said, regretting to bring up the subject. "I know about nothing and I was wondering if you could tell me what's going on." Doc looked at the kid questionably, there was something wrong in his statement. "Uhh, I've gotta go."

Dave moved out of Lightning's way as the stock car proceeded to head back to Flo's. He came back into Doc's office. "What was that all about?"

Doc sighed, he had no clue. "Dave, would it be okay if I talked to you later tonight?"

"Yeah, yeah of course. Is it about what's going on between you and Brian?" He inched forward, trying his best to read Doc's expression.

The cobalt car started to rummage through the box he bent up and began to place the things in a new one. "It is..."

Dave looked around at Doc's office, he was amazed at how many things could fit in here. "Well, I'm here for ya, Hudson. Just come and get me when you're ready..." He backed out of Doc's office and started towards Flo's. There was no sense in trying to get more information out of Doc at the moment, what ever was happening could wait until tonight.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Everyone in the town had no idea just what kind of secrecy was being transported throughout the place. Brian and Doc's dispute that was going on sat unnoticed. Laura's sad and quiet appearance at the cafe also was oblivious to the others. Sadie developed a pissy attitude due to the fact that her husband refused to tell her what was wrong until it settled, but she trusted Brian, and soon accepted his decision.

Dave, still not knowing what could possibly be wrong, entertained the townsfolk with stories from the fifties that involved Doc. Everyone was eager to learn more about their quiet town doctor, that had up until now, remained silent about his past.

Laura couldn't take it anymore, listening to him. She was sick of hearing about old memories. She faked a smile and quickly excused herself to leave the cafe that night, Laura was going to find Doc and spend time with him.

Dave stopped what story he was telling and watched her leave, that was unexpected. But the more he thought about it, he hoped he didn't offend her. Sadie, Brian and him were embracing the old times, Dave never thought that it might be harder for her.

Everyone watched as her tail lights disappeared, going towards Doc's office. They sat there, looking at Dave wondering if he could supply an answer.

But he couldn't, and if he could it wouldn't be easy. He glanced in his mirror, taking a look at the tail lights as well. His attention turned sharply to Brian next to him, who was now looking at the ground. A soft sigh followed not too shortly after.

Now Dave knew, he understood. It was about Laura, Doc and Brian were fighting about Laura. He didn't know why he didn't see it before. Then it hit him, what if the secret was out? He was sure that was the reason behind all of this. Of course, it could only be that. Laura was stuck in the middle between a guy who wanted things to be right again, and another guy who wanted the best for everyone.

Dave scoffed. If that was what Doc was going to talk to him about later, he didn't know how he was going to fix it. Fixing problems is all he's done in life, but this was a whole new category.

The maroon car looked past Brian to the rookie that sat next to him. The kid was giving Brian a look of assurance that everything would be okay. That look worried Dave, what if Lightning was in on this? What if--

"Was he going to marry her?"

Dave snapped out of his thoughts and looked across the cafe to who questioned him. He couldn't find a match to the voice, he had been so lost in his own world that the question seemed surreal. But it was surreal, because that question had been abandoned long ago, left behind and forgotten for others to etch into their memory as something that belonged in a lonely dream.

All eyes were on him, waiting to answer. He didn't know if he should answer that or not.

Dave sighed and looked at the ground. "Yes..." His voice was barely above a whisper. "He was going to ask her to marry him."

Brian looked at Dave, just how many memories was he planning on bringing up tonight? He, too, remembered the day that his best friend told him that he was going to propose to Laura. He couldn't be happier for Doc. It was 1954 all over for him.

_"Don't tell the others," Doc started. "But I'm gonna ask her before the first race of the season."_

To propose to the woman he loved in front of thousands of fans at the South Carolina Racing Headquarters would have been amazing. It seemed perfect, because Brian knew Laura was going to say yes. But after everything that had happened in life, there was no such thing as perfect.

"Excuse me one moment..." Dave started up his engine and backed out of the cafe. He drove over to Doc's, but when he knocked on the door no one answered. He moved around the back to his garage, again there was no one there.

Dave drove back to the main street and looked around. The only thing he could hear was the distant murmur of voices coming from Flo's. The darkness around him was cut by the street lights, but he still couldn't find Doc or Laura.

A light breeze rolled through, the trees at the back of the Cozy Cone rustling and moving along with it.

He sighed, they were gone. Not knowing when they'd be back, he figured his conversation between Doc could be brought up tomorrow. He wanted to confirm the conclusion he had made. And Dave was never, _never_ out of the loop.


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER ELEVEN**

_That day had been exceptionally boring. Brian sat there watching Dave's new plasma TV most of the day, waiting for the race to start. He didn't really care about racing as much as he used to, but he knew enough about today's Piston Cup racers to single out which ones he didn't like._

_Lightning McQueen was one of them. Brian couldn't stand him, he didn't like how he raced and he of course didn't like his cocky attitude._

_The tie breaker race in California. It was talked about all week, and the fact that Lightning McQueen went missing had the press sitting on pins and needles. Watching the rookie being led around by the pace car before the race, he could only imagine how boring it would be to watch only three cars racing today._

_"The prick doesn't deserve this kind of publicity..." Brian mumbled to himself as he turned the volume down, trying to ignore the commentators._

_Sadie pulled up next to her husband and parked. Shutting off her engine, she grabbed the remote and turned the volume back up. "What's wrong with you today?" She asked absently._

_Brian sighed. "Nothing's wrong..."_

_Just then, the front door opened._

_"Honey, I'm home!" Dave called out sarcastically. He then laughed at his own daily routine before shutting the door behind him._

_Brian rolled his eyes. "Dave, why do you always do that? You know there's no 'honey' in your house waiting for you..."_

_Dave ignored Brian's attempt to, once again, bring him down, and looked around the room quickly. "Do we still have some coffee left over from this morning?"_

_"It's two in the afternoon, why coffee?" Brian asked._

_Dave immediately shot back a response. "It's two in the afternoon, shouldn't you still be asleep from your latest hangover?"_

_Laura, who had heard their conversation from the hallway, appeared in the room. "Settle down, both of you. Dave, I'll get you a cup of coffee..."_

_The maroon car nodded approvingly in her direction. "Thank you, Laura." He then parked next to Brian. "Everyone at the office was excited about the race, so I gave them the rest of the day off." Resting easy, he settled his frame against the floor._

_Laura reentered the room and set the coffee in front of Dave before parking beside him. "Well that was nice of you." She noted, commenting his decision._

_Brian scoffed, "It's just a race, a stupid race between three cars... that's all it is..."_

_Dave looked at Brian beside him. Why was he trying to ruin everyone else's day? "Brian," Dave stated firmly. "If you don't wanna watch the race, I suggest you go outside on the porch and do something else. Because Laura, Sadie and I would like to see how it goes."_

_Brian sighed again and shifted further away from him._

_The four cars regained peace and looked up at the TV to watch the race. By now, it had already started._

_They all looked at the big screen to see Lightning just barely avoid hitting the outside wall. The racer appeared to be distracted._

_Dave flinched. "Ohh, that would have sucked for him..."_

_Brian rolled his eyes slightly, but kept his comment to himself._

_It got silent between the four as they watched the race continue. Their focus completely fixed on the TV like it might hold some sort of answer for them._

_"Darrell," Bob Cutlass snapped, gaining the attention of the four. "It appears McQueen has himself a pit crew, and look who he has for a crew chief..." All the cameras turned towards Lightning's pit row box, to see Doc perched on the lift. With The Fabulous Hudson Hornet painted on his sides, along with everything else, emotions went haywire in Dave's mansion as they recognized their long lost friend._

_Dave jumped back in surprise. "Hudson?!" He yelled, his eyes glued to the screen as if it was the last thing he was ever going to see._

_Laura squealed with glee, never would she expect to see him again. Tears stung her eyes as Doc was revived in her memory. After years of pushing him farther out of her mind, those locks had been broken. And now she was staring at the cobalt car she so longed to have back. She could feel him beside her, as if just seeing his face was enough to complete her life. Laura sat there in awe, amazed._

_"Shhh..." Sadie pressured, turning up the TV._

_"Wow," Bob added. "This is history in the making. No one has seen the racing legend, in over fifty years!"_

_Dave broke out into hysterical laughter, turning to face Laura who, by now, had tears in her eyes. The grins they wore expressed more than just happiness, they implied the very feeling of bliss. Sadie joined their excitement as she drove up to them, leaving her husband's side. The three pranced around, nothing could have been better for them._

_That was, all except for one car._

_Brian sat there, still as stone. He stared at the screen with an expression of confusion. Because to him, nothing made sense. What was thought to be lost, sat before him. The green car was in some sort of trance, still questioning the events like they weren't supposed to happen._

_"It can't be..." He breathed, zoning out the others' cheers of joy as he slowly approached the TV to get a better look at a past life. Memories and great times were resurfacing and merging to create one big feeling of helplessness._

_Brian turned to the three and began to speak, but for some reason he couldn't bring his voice any higher than regular. Interrupting their fit of joy was hard, almost as if something was telling him not to. Gradually, his friends settled down to look at the TV for anything else they might say about their friend of so many years ago._

_Though they were met by Brian's determined look._

_Sadie drove up to him and nudged him with a tire. "You okay?" She asked, worrying about his outlook on this scene. She finally noticed that he hadn't celebrated._

_"Where did they say they found Lightning?" He ignored her question and asked one of his own._

_"I think they said Radiator Springs, why?"_

_Brian looked at each of them as they waited for him to speak._

_"Because we're going there..." He finally said._

_The three looked at each other, surprised at Brian's decision. _

_"Wow, really?" Dave asked._

_Brian gave the maroon car a look of disgust. "How can we not?" He asked coldly, immediately regretting his tone. "Look, Hudson's back, how can we just sit here?" He repeated to them, this time with more sympathy._

_"You must think that I don't want to, Brian. I'm just amazed that you'd be the one to announce that..."_

_Brian looked away from Dave and to the floor. This was their chance to make things right, fix everything that they couldn't before. This was their chance to say goodbye, for who knows how much longer they'd live. And nobody, nobody wanted to die without knowing how Doc ended up._

_While Laura, Sadie and Dave gathered around the TV once again to see if the commentators could supply them with any more information, Brian parked by himself in the corner. The green car was rethinking things, questioning the outcomes of what their little reunion could have._

_He sighed and closed his eyes. "Don't regret this..."_

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Brian drove out of his cone the next morning to find the town happily busy with chores like always. They were driving around town, doing what they could before heading over to Flo's to chat with the newcomers. He sighed and moved his way over, checking to see if Doc was anywhere near by.

It was Lightning who spotted him first. The rookie was eager to talk to him, for he had a new respect for Brian. He knew the car could have made him leave once he saw him in his mirrors, but something told him that he didn't for a reason.

"Hey," The stock car said as he parked in front of Brian. "When are you racing Doc?"

Brian continued to look around town. "I don't know yet. Where is he? I need to talk to him."

"He was here a minute ago, talking to Laura. I think he's over at the clinic right now..."

At that moment, the two looked towards Doc's clinic to see him rolling out of the double doors, coming their way.

The cobalt car stopped next to them as they turned to face him. He looked the kid over before speaking to him. "Do you mind going back over to the cafe? I need to talk to Brian alone."

Lightning was about to respond to Doc when Brian stopped him. "That won't be necessary, because we're going to have a conversation at Flo's. Right, Hudson?"

Doc looked at Brian questionably. "What for? Why can't we talk here?" He shifted his eyes, looking from him to Lightning as if they were planning something.

Now that the kid new what was going on, Brian at least wanted him to hear their next conversation. He didn't answer Doc, instead he switched into reverse and continued on his way to Flo's. Lightning tagging along, eager to see how this would go.

Doc sighed harshly and followed as well.

Going down the row of the cafe, Brian and Doc caught the attention of two other cars. Dave and Laura, who were also curious as to what was going on. They both knew there was some trouble, but were blind to just what exactly was happening. Neither suspected a_ race_, of all things.

Lightning parked a little ways away from where Brian and Doc did. The two had decided to have their conversation next to the stacks of oil near the back of the cafe, at least there they wouldn't be consumed in the others' conversations.

Brian and Doc parked side by side, watching the townsfolk talk amongst themselves.

"When are we racing?" Doc asked bluntly.

Brian didn't bother to look his way as he noticed Sadie rolling up to the cafe. "I was just going to ask you the same thing..." Brian said smoothly.

Doc was getting agitated. He wanted to race, to win, so he could finally ask Laura his question. Love was torture, and tortured he was feeling. "I was thinking about Tailfin Pass."

"Is it dirt?"

"No."

"Then my answer's a_ no_, I refuse to race there."

"Listen to me," Doc started. "It's far away from the town, others won't have to know that we're racing--"

"A race?" Dave cut in, surprising Brian and Doc. "You guys are having a race?"

The two ex racers sighed. Great... now Dave knew...

"Yes, Dave," Brian told him. "We're having a race. Now please, mind your own business..."

The maroon car was completely oblivious to the fact that this race was not fun and games. "Could I join?"

"Dave, please, no, just let it go..." Doc said, backing Brian up.

"What's so bad about me racing with you guys?" Dave had everybody looking his way, and at the two in the back. Everyone was wondering why they were being so mean to their friend, they sat there in silence waiting for someone to answer.

Doc and Brian glared at each other. Finally, Brian spoke.

"Alright, fine, you can race with us..." He said, avoiding the stares. "It's not like you'll be able to keep up with us anyways..." He muttered before shuffling farther away from Doc in annoyance, like it was somehow his fault.

Lightning decided to step in. "Can I race, too?"

"Uhh, there better be a good reason behind it." Brian told the stock car sarcastically.

"There is," Lightning assured him. "Trust me."

"What about me?" Sadie asked, the spotlight on her for a change. "I'd like to race."

Doc growled in frustration. "Please, all we wanted was a race between--"

"Me, too." A voice in the back said. "I'd like to race as well." All eyes were on Sheriff, who had remained quiet this whole time. No one in town knew that he had harbored a secret crush on Sadie, that being the only reason he wanted to race.

Brian scoffed at the stupidity of the situation. "Oh, and I suppose everyone else would like to race as well? Huh? Or are you too afraid to speak up?"

Truth was, they were. They could feel the tension fill the gas station the more they sat there and looked at each other.

What was supposed to be just be a race between two cars over one, was turning out to be a big, get-together fun-filled hour of mayhem. Great, just great.

It was then that Doc had an idea, and it made him smile for the first time that morning. His idea was going to help his situation out. "How about a team race? Anybody wanna be put on teams?"

Brian gave Doc a look of pure hate at the mention of that. The fact that Doc was working against his power as a solo racer was bad enough, but now the cobalt car was going against what he was taught. Race solo, always. From the beginning, you raced your own race.

"Hudson, what are you _doing_?"

Doc shook a tire at Brian to shut him up. "For the cars that are racing, who'd join teams?"

Sheriff, Dave, Lightning and Sadie drove forward to face Brian and Doc.

"Great!" Doc said, feeling better about this outcome. "Now lets take another vote. Those of you who want to race on dirt, group 'round Brian. For those who want to race on asphalt, gather 'round me..."

It didn't take long for the four to figure out what they wanted to do. Sadie drove over to Doc's side simply because her days as a dirt racer were over, and she had done much better on asphalt anyways. Sheriff tagged along after her. He hadn't really favored dirt tracks, and he was definitely going to follow Sadie's decision. Dave also drove to Doc's side, he hated dirt racing.

It was now Lightning's turn to decide. He took one look at Brian and sighed. "Sorry, Brian." He said before moving towards Doc. The rookie, being in the Piston Cup, was only an expert on asphalt.

Brian growled softly at Doc as the cobalt car turned to face him. "You've just been out-voted." Doc told him with a smirk plastered on his grill.

"Why'd you do that?" Brian asked, glaring at him.

The ex racer grinned. "Because I know you don't race well on asphalt."

Brian rolled his eyes and shifted on his tires. "Now what?"

"Oh, and one more thing, Brian." Doc said, gaining the attention of everyone, not just the green car. "You have to race on pure gasoline, and only gasoline."

"And why is_ that_?" Brian sneered, reminding him that he needed a drink.

"Because if you don't," Sheriff started. "_That_ would be driving under the influence."

Brian groaned.

Doc smiled at his response to the law, things were going his way already. "Now, you ready to pick teams?"

The green car nodded. "I pick first!"

Damn it, Doc thought, shoulda called that...

"Whoa whoa whoa, that's not fair. Why are you two the ones picking teams?" Dave asked.

"We let you into our race, didn't we?" Brian's answer was enough to shut Dave up. "Exactly, so get over it. Sadie!" He barked. "Get your fender over here."

"Who do you think you're talking to like that?" She asked harshly, correcting him.

"Yes ma'am..." He said as she pulled up beside him. "Hudson, it's your turn..."

"Lightning, he's on my team."

Brian sighed, that was another thing not going his way. He knew the kid was good on asphalt. But there was hope, hope that the stock car would go mutiny on his own team. "Fine, then I get Dave." The green car knew that his best friend always did better on asphalt.

Doc looked at Sheriff and smiled warmly. "Then that means you're with me."

Sheriff somewhat pouted, he wanted to race with Sadie.

"Okay, _now what_? Who races who?"

"I call that first!" Doc blurted out, he knew who he wanted Lightning to race against. "Dave races my rookie."

"Doc," Lightning started, turning towards him. "Please don't call me_ rookie_. I'm not a _rookie_ anymore."

Doc mumbled something as Brian paired the next racers. "My Sadie races the Sheriff." It was a perfect match, something Brian wanted to happen. Sadie loved running from the cops, it was something she was good at. Racing this town's authority would be no different, and certainly more encouragement to win.

Sheriff was alerted by that, he didn't want to race against her.

Doc slowly drove up to Brian. "And I guess that just leaves you and me?"

Brian narrowed his eyes. "Just like we originally planned."

"Are we ready to race?" Dave asked, cutting off Brian and Doc's quick stare-off.

"As soon as this here car burns off what ever liquor he's running on." Doc informed him.

Brian started up his engine and began to drive out of the cafe and to the main road. He did a couple of trips around town until he was almost on empty, and already he missed drinking. When he pulled back into the cafe, all eyes were on him, watching as he filled his tank with regular gasoline.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Laura drove up to Doc just as the group of six were leaving for Tailfin Pass. "Can I come along?" She asked sweetly.

Doc smiled and looked deeply into her eyes. He was going to give this race everything he had, he wanted her around for the rest of his days. "Of course you can come, darlin'. In fact, you're gonna record who wins at the end..."

She smiled at him in return and drove around the pack to the front of the line.

Brian drove up to Doc's side as they continued to leave the town and to the west for the mountains. "Remember our deal, Hudson. You don't ask her anything unless you win..." He told him, glaring through the corner of his vision.

Doc glared right back at him. "You should be thankful that I'm true to my word."

The green car scoffed and moved on up ahead and away from Doc. There wasn't much that could be said between them without causing more damage, he decided to break that conversation off before they argued on their way up to the mountain.

The drive there had been quiet except for the fact that Dave hummed every once in a while. Laura was in her own world, Lightning was questioning the events that were going to happen, and Sheriff was too afraid to talk to Sadie. Not like he would talk to her with Brian around anyways...

They got to the base of the mountain, it was then that Doc and Brian turned to the other five. "Alright," Doc started. "Dave, Lightning, you two stay here. This is where you guys start your race. Wait here for about ten minutes. When time's up, drive. Got it?"

Dave and Lightning nodded as they parked next to each other on their mark on the road. "When do we know when to stop?" The stock car asked.

"Oh, you'll know," Brian told him. "When you reach your teammate, stop. They'll continue the race from there." He turned to the other cars. "Does everyone understand the concept of these races?" No one spoke up, so Brian decided that they knew their directions clearly.

Brian and Doc continued driving up the mountain's side, Sadie, Sheriff and Laura following behind them.

Lightning looked at Dave next to him. "You got a watch?"

Dave chuckled. "I always have a watch... I'll let you know when the ten minutes are up..."

The group of five drove for what seemed like an eternity up the winding mountain's side. Finally, they came to a stop at a bend in the road. "Sadie, Sheriff, this is where you'll start your section of the race." Brian said, turning to face them. "Sadie, when Dave reaches you, take off. And Sheriff, do the same when that hyper little annoyance arrives as well..."

Brian drove up to his wife, closed his eyes and gave her a lingering kiss. When he was sure that he had her full attention, he pulled back slowly. "No mercy," He whispered.

Sadie smiled deviously as Brian turned around and started driving away from her.

Sheriff swallowed hard as he watched the green car leave, as well. He wasn't sure if Brian had done that to purposely remind him where he stood with Sadie, and he didn't even want to think of what Brian would do if he suspected him making a move on his wife.

"Lets go," Brian said to Laura and Doc. "We're almost out of time and we still haven't reached our checkpoint..."

The two ex racers drove along with Laura between them. Another silent drive as the three consumed themselves in their own thoughts.

Laura sighed peacefully and looked around at the scenery. "Such a beautiful day..." She noted, looking over the cliff and at the trees around her. Doc and Brian grumbled something under their breath and stared at the road they were driving on, they both knew she could be such a ditz at times.

When Doc was satisfied with the length they had put between themselves, Sheriff and Sadie, he stopped driving. "This is good enough," He said. "We'll race here." Brian and Laura stopped to survey the surroundings. "Laura," Doc started. "Drive exactly three miles and then stop, we'll meet you there." He then turned to Brian. "Three miles okay with you?"

Brian scoffed. "Oh, don't _even_ try to compromise now..."

Doc was taken aback. "Racing is all about advantages, and you know that."

"What ever, Hudson." He snapped, turning away from him. "Laura, three miles. It's almost time to race."

The cherry red car took off and started to drive her three miles up the mountain to the finish line while Doc and Brian sat there, in silence, both hating this situation.

At the bottom of the mountain, Dave stared at a clock intently. "Three... two... one..." He said. "It's been ten minutes. Now we race?"

Lightning rolled his eyes, "Well that was a pitiful countdown, Dave. If we're gonna race, we might as well do it traditionally..." The stock car shifted on his tires and sunk low to the ground. "Gentlemen, start your engines..." He then revved his engine to the point of where it intimidated Dave.

Dave looked at him as if racing him was the dumbest idea. "You know you're gonna win this, right?"

"Don't quit now," Lightning told him, for he had his own idea on how to rig this race. "You can't back down..."

"I know, I know..." Dave said as he, too, kicked on his engine. "You gonna count down, then?"

Lightning started it from five, and it wasn't long before the squeal of tires on asphalt could be heard throughout the forest. The two cars launched forward, and immediately Lightning had the lead because of his engine. Dave wasn't far behind though, he was good at turning.

Coming to the first turn, he cut the stock car off and jumped ahead of the other car for a moment. That took Lightning by surprise, he didn't expect him to be so aggressive already. He pulled up beside Dave in that moment, from the looks of it, he wouldn't have to lose on purpose. "What was_ that _all about?"

Dave laughed as the two came to another turn. Again, Dave cut out in front as he hugged the inside cliff railing. "What? You didn't expect this old car to put that much effort into racing?" He asked as the two put their petal to the metal coming around a bend in the road. "Well I got news for you, kid, Brian taught me a few things about racing over the years..."

Lightning soon found Dave's weakness as they continued their way down the straightaway. The stock car had the advantage with his big block engine, and it wasn't long until Dave fell behind him in that moment. But, sure enough, as soon as they came to their next turn, Dave was right there.

Lightning didn't want to lose, but he had to. He was on the team he wanted to fail.

In that moment, he hit the brakes and allowed Dave to take the lead from him. But that didn't go unnoticed for very long. Dave looked back in his mirrors to see the kid pretending to keep up. "Lightning, why'd you do that?"

Lightning sighed, he guessed it was now or never. "Look, I know what this is all about! I know the reason behind the race!" He called up to him.

Whoo, that statement made Dave lose focus on the road. Before he could register that thought in his mind, he hit the outside rail and started to grind against it accidentally. Dave ripped his steering to the left, but was met by the wall of the mountain. "My diamonds!" Dave yelled as he regained control.

He tried to look at the damage as Lightning pulled up beside him on the road. The stock car chuckled. "Remember, Dave, those rims were cheap!"

Dave looked over at him. "What do you know that I don't?" He asked.

The two merged lanes as they ducked to the inside for another turn. Lightning pulled up beside Dave again to talk to him. "It's about Laura!" He said. "Doc's racing Brian for the right to ask Laura if she'd like to stay here in Radiator Springs!"

"Ohh, that's not good... That's really not good..." No way could he let Doc ask Laura that. He understood completely, the situation at tire. If he had known about that before, he wouldn't have joined their race. Now everything was screwed up, and it all depended on how much effort the otherparticipantsput into this.

"I know, and I need you to win so that Sadie can get a head start!" Lightning admitted, revealing his plan to him.

"Well, kid, that's mighty kind of you, but they'll get suspicious if you suddenly fall back for no apparent reason! I mean, c'mon, you're supposed to be long gone by now, you should be leaving my fender behind!"

"So lets just tie?" Lightning asked.

"Yeah..."

The two drove side by side for the remainder of the race. Only until they saw Sheriff and Sadie did they start acting competitive. The two cars floored it, reaching their teammates at the same time. Out of breath from their sprint, Lightning and Dave sat there watching the two racers disappear around a bend on the road, they could still hear the squealing of their tires fading away gradually.

Lightning sighed and looked over at Dave. "Should we start driving?"

Dave nodded. "Lets go..."

They followed the road up the mountain at a steady pace, worried about this outcome more than anything.

Sadie swerved to the inside railing to cut in front of Sheriff. Their speeds evenly matched, she was working hard to keep Radiator Spring's law enforcement at bay. Sheriff was surprised as hell at how aggressive she was. Even as a police cruiser, he was having trouble avoiding her tricks and maneuvers.

Though he was no one to play rough, and there was no way he would put her in harms way. "Excuse me, miss." He said as he tried to cautiously take the lead away from her. But she cut him off again, Sheriff keeping control none the less. "You're not gonna make this easy, are ya?" He asked.

Sadie was having difficulty maintaining the lead, more than she thought she would. She couldn't uphold this speed much longer without messing up, so she decided to get clever.

Releasing off of the acceleration a little, she fell back until she was side by side with Sheriff on his left. Coming dangerously close to his chassis on a straightaway, she had every ounce of Sheriff's attention as he stared at her with a fear struck look. The feeling of her near him was already too much.

Sadie gently bit her lower lip as she flashed her priceless, seductive eyes at him enticingly.

Sheriff's engine skipped a beat at that.

He was still trying to figure out if he had imagined that entirely when Sadie veered to the left to turn with the bend. Sheriff looked at the road ahead of him just in time to see the guard rail approaching extremely close. He turned left and tried his best to catch up.

Sadie laughed as Sheriff once again caught her. "Sorry, I had to do that... Just had to..."

Sheriff grunted and surged forward, quite embarrassed by that.

She pulled up next to his quarter panel, he really was hard to keep up with. "You should have known I was going to do that." She said as they leaned into a turn. "Maybe if you had spent less time gawking at me..." She was still trying to avert his attention off the road so she could take the lead.

He flashed his brakes accidentally as he thought about her words, apparently she knew he liked her.

Still, that wasn't the break she was looking for. Sadie needed an advantage, and she had one. She pulled up directly behind him and sighed erotically.

Sheriff refused to acknowledge her. "You're on pursuit... you're on pursuit... ignore her..." He muttered to himself as he began to increase his speed on yet another straightaway.

Sadie rolled her eyes, _this_ would be her last attempt. Slamming on the brakes, she proceeded to yell out as if she was in pain. Coming to a stop, she kept up her act and called out to Sheriff, hoping he would return to help her.

Sheriff sighed and gradually slowed to a stop before turning around to head back to where she braked, the urge to be a gentlemen was overpowering his will to win. He drove up to her, looking her over for any injuries. "What happened, did you run over some rocks or something?"

Sadie winced and looked around like she was in trouble. "I don't know. My axle really hurts and I don't know if I can--" She slammed on her accelerator and took off down the course. "Wow it's a miracle!" She yelled back to him.

Sheriff didn't sit there much longer before taking off after her. "How the hell did you fall for that..." He mumbled, talking to himself. He noticed that he could no longer see her tearing towards wherever the next checkpoint was.

Sadie arrived and immediately tagged Brian. She was laughing when she did. "Have a good race, sweetie." She said to him, pulling over to the side.

Brian laughed as well and looked at Doc. "I wonder what happened to your racer, Hudson. I'll see you at the finish line..." He sneered, spinning his tires in Doc's face, surrounding the cobalt car in a cloud of white smoke. With that, Brian was gone around the bend.

Doc growled angrily and looked behind him to see Sheriff just reaching the checkpoint. "What happened to you?!" He snapped.

"I'm sorry, it's just--" But Sheriff didn't even have time to finish his sentence as Doc spun around and tore across the pavement after Brian with a motive stronger than friendship. He had to win this, and there was no greater force.

Sadie looked at Sheriff. "You ready to head to the top?"

"You stay away from me." He said as he started to drive away.


	12. Chapter 12

_Disclaimer: I own all the OCs, so please don't take them! Other than that, enjoy!_

**CHAPTER TWELVE**

The squeal of his tires quickly faded. He was gaining speed faster and faster, trying to catch up with his current enemy. His tires gripped the pavement, using his brakes on the turns and bends of the road up the mountain's side. He was climbing, gradually.

But he was running, running solo. The sound of his engine being the only thing cutting off his concentration. Making up for lost time was his goal at the moment, and driving steady was the only thing that could possibly help him. A miracle, more like it. There was no way that Brian would give him a chance to win this, not a single ounce of mercy.

Doc leaned with the curves, making his way to the inside of the road on a right turn. And suddenly his senses were alerted by the sound of someone else's engine. No... that couldn't be Brian already, it just couldn't be. It had to just be some traveler on a road trip... But as the cobalt car made another turn, the flash of a green car was constant. It was definitely Brian.

He was shocked, how did he catch up with him so quickly? The old car must have been slacking off. Big mistake for someone who hates racing on asphalt, something Doc didn't expect from Brian.

As he was surging closer, the green car gave a startled yelp and suddenly took off, leaving Doc to wonder just how much power that car now had. Brian had been slacking off, or maybe it had been a trick of some sort. Though Doc highly doubted that now as he pushed the accelerator more, trying his hardest.

He thought he lost him briefly around a turn, but soon found himself side by side with the other racer. That was something Brian wouldn't allow. He cut Doc off, forcing him to fall back behind him.

Doc wouldn't take that. He leaned forward and tried once again to come up beside him.

For a moment, the only sound had been of their engines straining to out-do each other, but there was grunting as Brian shoved Doc into the outside guard rail. The sound of scraping metal came after that as Doc struggled to break free of Brian's hold on him. He glanced out over the ledge, a moment of panic as he saw just how high up they were on the mountain.

He was left with no choice but to hit his brakes and fall back. He could hear Brian laugh as he pulled away, he worked hard to regain top speed. He wasn't going to let Brian win this.

With all his strength, he slammed the accelerator again, fish-tailing around a tight turn, finding Brian again.

Brian gave an aggravated growl, preparing himself to throw the other car off course. Though he had to admit, he raced badly on asphalt, and if racing dirty was going to mean winning, he'd do it. He waited for Doc to come up beside him, ready to let Doc know that he had no intention of letting him win their bet.

But Doc was in trouble, Brian taught him how to race. Everything he knew, even still today, he hadn't forgotten a single thing. Brian would know of any trick he would try to perform, it was hard. Though he had to try, it was his only option. Even if it meant getting more dents than originally planned.

Doc pretended to pass him on the outside of the upcoming left turn, Brian immediately blocking him off. But Doc tapped his brakes, soon fading into the inside of the road where Brian was vulnerable. It worked, but only because this wasn't dirt. Doc ducked lower, turning with the bend and exiting the turn with a slight lead on Brian.

"Give up, Hudson! This isn't worth it! You know this isn't right!" Brian yelled to him, pushing his engine to the limit in an attempt to regain the lead.

Another turn was coming up, and it was in Brian's favor. The green car being on the right, he'd be on the inside. Doc tried doing the same move, though it quickly failed. Brian knew how to prevent it, now that he was aware of that move being used. He swerved over, faking out the other racer, but Brian didn't take the bait.

They had a small straightaway, it'd be power now. They gunned it, though to no avail. The two were evenly matched, driving side by side along the mountain, ignoring any danger that could come when upholding this speed.

Another turn, a left turn. Doc smiled as he hugged the inside rail and gained an entire length lead after that. He could hear Brian growl in frustration, and smiled at his reaction. His only worry at the moment was Brian knocking him out of the way entirely.

Brian's hatred began to dwindle as his mind slipped out of concentration and to the better days, the 50's when times were good, when they had became better after that horrible year of 1950. Times like theses... racing for training... racing his best friend for fun on the old country roads of South Carolina... outrunning the cops... but only having to be bailed out by Dave... times of living life to the fullest... times of being complete, and happy... times that were gone... forever.

He hadn't raced Doc like this since 1953, when they went to the cabin for the weekend. The time that Doc almost died, colliding with that one irate car. But thankfully, it had only cost him a crushed fender and a broken headlight. That had scared him so bad, because all the progress he made would have been lost if he had died. It truly would have been all gone... all for nothing. He had taken Doc in, and given the cobalt car an amazing life, something that he had lost years ago, himself.

Tears stung his eyes at the thought that it had all come down to this, a race that would decide way too many things. Most likely destroy a long lost friendship. Years of guilt and regret swelled up inside him, this was the end. Thoughts of this outcome began to hurt him the more he questioned it. He wondered if Doc was thinking the same thing, though he highly doubted it. Laura meant a lot to him.

And that's what brought the hatred back, he would not let Doc win. He would not let him ask Laura to stay here with him. His concentration returned, and with that he was more than determined to make sure he won.

Doc listened to the way his engine sounded. He was growing tired, he hadn't been pushed to the limit like this in a long time. His motor ached, increasing his pain each time his pistons moved. Holding Brian off was hard, and he didn't know if he could last much longer. It was then that they passed the Wheel Well Motel, a surprise to him. Just how much further up the road was Laura?

That didn't matter. What did matter, was that Brian was driving along side him.

The two came over the top of the hill, only to be met by a stretch of road, the longest straightaway they'd be running so far. But the noise of their race was drowned out as he spotted Laura just at the end, cheering them on.

Doc and Brian exchanged a glance before giving it all they had. They were steadily increasing speed at an alarming rate, Laura was getting closer and closer. She was cheering, still cheering as she watched the enemies come flying towards her at top speed, oblivious to just how much emotion this was brewing.

And at top speed they were, both racers felt like they would be clear for take-off soon. It was a bit scary. No, it was insane, what the hell were they thinking? They were racing side by side, grill to grill for everything. This was it.

They exchanged another glance, this time panicked. Neither backing down, not yet. But no one had the lead, they couldn't.

Brian lowered his body to the asphalt as best he could, fighting the wind, hugging the ground as he barreled down the gradual hill. He was surging forward slightly, getting the edge he needed. Though Doc did the same, and they were back where they started.

Another glance, no one dared to perform a trick now. Lives were more important than playing a trick that could take one away.

Closer, closer they were. They lost count of their speed, their tires barely holding onto the ground. They could hear Laura's yelp of excitement at this event, she was sitting in the middle of the road, jumping up and down with encouragement at the finish line.

Doc gritted his teeth, giving this more effort than he thought was possible. The memories began to flash before him again, and all he could see was her, hoping she could be in his life again. Though it was too late as the two racers whipped by the cherry red car in a loud blur. Their worst nightmare had been met.

They had tied.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dave and Lightning drove side by side up the mountain's side at a decent pace, admiring the scenery as they strolled along. They tried not to think about the outcome of the races, but that didn't mean they weren't interested. The two didn't really talk to each other on the drive, instead enjoying each other's company was good enough.

"Hey, you hear that?" Lightning asked.

"I may be old," Dave started. "But yes, I do hear it."

"It wasn't supposed to be sarcastic... It was just a question..." He told him.

It was the sound of engines. They both heard it, and increased their speed until they turned a corner, seeing Sadie and Sheriff on their drive as well. Sadie was talking about something, though they couldn't quite figure it out. Sheriff, couldn't possibly look more frustrated listening to her.

Dave chuckled. "I wonder who won."

The two drove up behind them, pulling up beside them. They were four wide on the road, it wasn't like anyone else was using it.

"Hey guys!" Lightning said as he drove along side Sheriff. There was no response as he pulled away and continued driving at a higher speed. "What's wrong with him?" He asked.

Sadie laughed gently. "Ehh, he's just mad that I didn't play_ fair_... he's also mad that he lost because of it." She sighed and continued to drive up the road between Dave and Lightning. "But I didn't hear any rules being set, either. So he can't be_ too _mad."

It was a long drive, now that they weren't racing. Sheriff was minding his own business, leading the three up the mountain, when he about ran into Laura head on. He swerved out of the way before that could have happened. He turned back, confused. "Where are you going?"

The three pulled up next to Sheriff, also wondering what was going on. Laura appeared to be out of breath.

"I was just coming to find you guys!" She told them. "Brian and Hudson are on the verge of a total meltdown!" Dave and Lightning looked at each other with horror, that definitely didn't mean anything good. "I don't know what's wrong! I mean, I can't even get them to talk to me! They're too busy arguing over that stupid race of theirs!"

Poor Laura didn't know that she was the star of the race, let alone the argument. Dave swallowed hard before speaking. "Who won?" He asked, inching forward.

Laura rolled her eyes and smiled. "Oops, silly me, forgot to tell you..." Yeah, she was still a ditz. "They tied!" She said excitedly. Sadie and Sheriff, also oblivious, found that news pretty interesting as well. Though that was enough for Dave and Lightning to take off up the mountain.

"Where are they going in such a hurry?" Sadie asked, eyeing the pair.

"Hey!" Sheriff called to them. "The races are over! Obey the speed limit!" But it was no use, the two were gone around the bend. It was then that he, too, took off and tried to catch up with them. Laura and Sadie looked at each other, and did the same.

Dave and Lightning made it to Wheel Well, looking past it and continued down the road. At the top of the hill, the two stopped, they could hear the argument from all the way up here.

"Wow, they're serious about this!" Lightning said, Dave agreeing. They coasted down the hill, trying their hardest to listen in on what they could before they arrived. Brian and Doc didn't even notice as they pulled up to what appeared to be the finish line. It looked like Laura had gotten bored, and somehow managed to arrange twigs and rocks on the sides of the road in a pattern.

"Ditz..." Dave muttered.

Lightning didn't hear him. He was too busy listening to his crew chief argue with his own. He hoped that him and Doc wouldn't have a fight like this one day, but then he remembered this was all about Laura, and possibly settling a regret.

"I won, and you know it!" Brian boomed as he drove closer to Doc's grill. "I won! I had the advantage at the end!"

Doc pulled closer as well, the two looking as if they were ready to fight. They had stomped around, moving about as their agitation and hatred continued to grow. "Oh, that's bull and you know it!"

"You said yourself that it's all about advantages! I was still gaining ground before we reached the finish line!"

Doc slammed a tire on the ground and threw himself backwards in disgust. "I have the better engine," Doc yelled, bluffing. He knew damn well that Brian had been rebuilt in 1978. "So that makes me the winner!"

Brian scoffed loudly, followed by a mocking chuckle. "Okay, now_ that's _bull! Give it up, Hudson! This race should have never been called, this was a waste of time!" Sheriff, Sadie and Laura pulled up at that moment, not expecting the argument to be this loud. "Because it doesn't matter now! I'm not letting you ask Laura anything, you--"

"What about me?" Laura asked, now entirely confused.

Brian and Doc stopped yelling, seeing for the first time, the other five cars that had joined over time. "Uhh--" Doc started, but he was cut off by Brian.

"Get Laura outta here, would ya?!" Brian boomed.

Laura was taken aback by that. "What the hell is your problem? It's just a stupid little race, boys. Get over it, or are you really gonna let your ego get to you like this? C'mon, let it go!" For the first time, everyone saw Laura step up and take charge.

But that didn't last long, Brian took the lead again. "No, Laura, please, this doesn't concern you right now." Truth was, it did. But he didn't want her here right now.

Doc sneered at that comment. "Oh, the hell it doesn't! Laura," He started, deciding to tell her now. "This whole race is because of--"

Though Doc didn't get to finish as Brian rammed him, pushing him into the guard rail by surprise. The doctor found himself pinned there, once again looking out over the ledge for the second time. "You don't tell her _anything_, got it?" Brian commanded through clenched teeth.

Laura gasped at the sudden action, now completely distraught.

Sheriff snapped to attention, alerted by the situation. He didn't expect that to happen, not really thinking of the fact that this really _could_ turn ugly. He wasn't prepared to separate this kind of argument. "Hey!" He barked. "Cut that out before I put both of you in the impound!"

That didn't stop Brian from keeping Doc where he placed him. "I didn't get an answer, Hudson." He whispered. But he wasn't going to get an answer, as Dave lunged at him and shoved him off of Doc, freeing the ex racer. "Damn it, Dave! Stay out of this! It doesn't concern you!"

"The hell it doesn't!" He yelled, backing up next to Doc to make sure he was okay. "You alright, Hudson?" The businessman had a few things he wanted to say to that car just yet, he was waiting for his chance to bring Brian down, just like he'd done to him all these years.

Doc nodded as he glared at Brian. The green car circled him as he, too, glared daggers into him. Was this really how their friendship was going to end? The two didn't know how to solve this, but it seemed that they had more than enough fuel to add to the fire.

Sheriff drove between them. "Enough! I've seen and heard just about the most ridiculous things here. It's a race, boys, so don't turn this into something horrible. Let's just all go back into town and--"

"No offense,_ Sheriff_, but this doesn't concern you..." Brian sneered. He was fed up with the way this was going.

Sheriff drove back away from them, he couldn't find a comeback to that command. "Keep the violence to a minimal..." He mumbled as he pulled up next to Sadie and Laura, who were just as confused as he was.

Sadie went to approach her husband, when Sheriff stopped her. "I wouldn't, if I were you." He warned.

She pushed his tire off of her and proceeded to move forward. "If he'll listen to anyone, it's me..." And that to be the best bet, what could be a hundred percent true, but not tonight. After years of listening to her, and getting along with her, that wouldn't happen now.

"Dear," She started, pulling up beside the enraged green car. "Why don't we just forget this ever happened, okay? It's just a race--"

"You don't get it!" He snapped. "This is more than a race, and I'd appreciate it if you'd just stop!" Sadie's angered expression began to break him, and it was the start of a fall that no one wanted to take. It was commencing. "Look," He said with a torn voice, pointing a tire in Laura's direction. "I care too much about that car to just let her suffer!"

There was silence as that soaked in, the others trying their hardest to decipher that statement.

"And we've worked too hard to just let Hudson take her away from us!" There, he had said it.

Doc smirked. "_Now_ who's the one who spilled the secret?"

Brian lashed around to look at Doc just as that sentence escaped him. "Oh, you just need to shut up! If anyone broke it, it's you!"

All attention was turned to Laura as she seemed troubled. "Wha-- What do you mean? Why is this about me?" She looked from Brian, to Doc. "Hudson, what's going on?"

Her plea was so soft, so touching. He closed his eyes, ashamed now. He didn't know why he was, but he felt it, and it hurt. Somehow he knew this wasn't going to turn out well. "Laura... this race was for you..." Everyone looked at him, waiting for him to finish. "If I won... I was awarded the right to ask you to stay here with me..."

Laura inched back farther at that, she didn't know what to say. "Hudson-- I, I can't-- I can't stay here... with you." Doc looked at her desperately, all was crushed. The answer he didn't want to hear. "I love you, but that's not possible. I'm sorry, but I can't I'm sorry." Confused and afraid, she spun around and drove away going back towards town. She was on the verge of tears, Doc had gone through all that trouble for something impossible.

That had been unexpected, how could she have given him the answer he wanted? And now she had hurt him. She drove faster, farther, escaping what ever she could.

Doc watched her leave, her engine cutting through the silence that had now cast over them.

Brian glared at Doc. "Are you happy, Hudson? Look at what you did!"

"What I did?!" Doc yelled. "You mentioned it! If it wasn't for the fact that you got a rebuilt engine, I would have won the damn race!"

It was Brian's turn to offer confusion into this mix of events. "Who the hell told you about that?" He snapped, looking around at the group. Lightning and Sheriff simply backed out of the way together, letting old friends fight this out. There was nothing they could do about this.

Sadie backed out of the way, that definitely struck some nerves. Painful feelings hit her as she backed up and parked next to Sheriff. Those two couldn't possibly know just how much that hurt her.

"I told him, damn it." Dave said, driving closer to Brian. "He had every right to know just how much you _don't_ care about us..."

"What the hell are you talking about?! I've always cared--"

"The hell you have!" Dave snapped, the temper of his that rarely showed was now present. "Does the life you lead mean anything to you, or are you still living in denial about the fact that you are constantly bringing us down with you?! I don't know why Sadie's still married to you!"

Brian drove backwards slightly, the last time he had seen Dave like this, bad things had happened. Things that hurt, and made you think. "Dave, I care! Why do you think that--"

"No, you're wrong! Everything you've done in life just hurts us more! I told Hudson about the hospital to let him know that you're not all you're cracked up to be! You self centered prick!"

"The only reason that I'm still arguing about this race is because of the fact that I wasn't going to let Hudson take Laura away from us! He has no right!"

Doc didn't protest, it was now Dave and Brian's fight.

Dave wasn't going to let Brian bring this back to Laura. "Oh, I guess you've just forgotten about every thing you do! I guess your drinking problem means nothing to you! Those doctors brought you back, and you repay them by continuing to drink!" Dave was just beginning, it was his turn to show them just who wasn't messing around anymore. "You can't tell me that you care, when all you've done is bring us down!"

Brian sat back on his shocks, that one stung. "Dave..." He said, lowering his voice. "Please... don't say that. I care about everyone, it's just--"

"It's just you apparently have a crappy way of showing it! What have you done to prove that?"

Brian sighed and looked at the ground. "I keep telling you that the company--"

"The company has been a better friend than you have, Brian."

That company would always stay, Brian should have realized that.

"I'm still at that damn company because it's all I got! You know why? Because you're not there for me! For everything else that has gone wrong in my life, you purposely made it worse!" All attention was drawn to Dave, he was about to say things that he kept locked inside for a long time. "If you could just stop, and see the damage that you've done, maybe I wouldn't still be there, working to make sure that I can support your sorry excuse for a life! I'd have that villa in Mexico by now. But no! I'm busy making sure you don't kill yourself! I'm busy making sure that you have the better life, not me! If anyone cares, it's me! And not a simple thank you, for anything I've done for you!"

No one spoke as the fire in Dave continued to intensify.

"Why do you care? You never cared before! You never cared about what anyone had to say, or whenever we tried to help you! You rejected us like we were nothing, and all of a sudden you _care_ about _my_ life?"

Brian truly was hurt by that. Dave was right.

"Name a time in your life when you didn't depend on me to fix something! Name a time when you weren't dependant on me, constantly coming to me, all while bringing me down to make sure that I felt just as helpless..."

Brian sighed, waiting for Dave to stop.

"But then again," Dave said sarcastically. "I care too much to just let you go. Because no matter what, you'll always be my friend. I just wish that you could have shown as much effort as me, especially after all that had happened. But no matter what I did, it wasn't good enough..."

Lightning leaned in towards Sheriff. "Where did that come from?" He whispered.

He sighed. "I don't know, kid."

"Why do you continue to keep up this act?" Dave asked Brian, staring at him with cold eyes. "I know that deep down you hate everything wrong that you've done. I just don't know why you can't let your pride down, and finally act the way you feel. You've got to be the biggest waste of time, but damn it, listen to me. Say something, and mean it! For once, listen to what I have to say, and maybe we could all smile and live our lives..."

Brian looked desperately from Dave, to Doc, and to his wife, Sadie. He was now officially broken, Dave had finally told it how it was. Something that no matter how many times he told himself the same thing, it was different coming from him. How could he have let this get so far? Everything he feared to admit, had now been thrown in his face.

But he couldn't speak, he didn't feel he had the right to. For the first time in a long time, he felt some feelings that he had purposely suppressed and tried to live without. He knew he hadn't been alone, at any point in his life, but now he did.

Doc watched as Brian drove past him, he was heading back to town himself.

The group of five looked at each other, not knowing what to say next. Dave sighed and shook himself in disgust. "I'm sorry you guys had to witness that. I'm sorry..." He knew they shouldn't have been drug into this, but he felt it was the only way he could get through to anyone.

Dave grabbed one of Sadie's tires and tugged on it gently. "C'mon, lets get going back to town..." She was silent, but she followed.

Lightning started to follow as well, briefly giving Doc a look of concern.

Sheriff pulled up next to Doc, who had slipped into a state of shock. "You coming?" He asked.

Doc nodded. "I will, soon..."

Sheriff caught up with Lightning, falling behind in pace with Dave and Sadie.

Doc sat there, listening to their engines disappear and fade away. He was saddened by the events, everything had been torn apart. Nothing worked out, it only created more drama for everyone to suffer.

He sighed and drove over to the ledge, to the guard rail that he was once pinned to and stared out over the valley. The landscape turned a golden brown as the sun began to set behind him in the mountain range. Nightfall would be here soon.

The clouds began to turn colors, their vibrant colors just the opposite of what Doc felt right now. His whole world had been turned upside down and ruined in such short time. But the more reality began to sink in, the more he knew it was over. Fixing everything seemed to be out of the question.

What happened between Dave and Brian had been their own fight, something he had nothing to do with. At the same time, it had blown him away. It certainly supplied him with enough information to keep him up at night.

Staring out over the ledge, that feeling of being the only one in the world right now was enough to cause him to shiver. The empty sound that the wind made as it whipped through the mountain range was a lonely feeling, and Doc hated it. At the moment, he was all alone, and he didn't want to feel that way any longer.

He started his engine, taking a moment to let it run. It didn't hurt as bad as before, but that dull feeling of much needed rest propelled him to head back towards town as well. He supposed, that if he needed time to think, he could do it at Willy's Butte.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Doc opened his eyes the next morning, feeling much remorse after last night. His friends had decided last night that they'd leave tomorrow morning. He tried not to pin all the blame on himself for this, but he felt it was the only thing he could do.

He glanced at the clock next to him. It read five thirty in the morning, anxiety had woken him up.

Starting up his engine, he pulled out of his office and into the gloom of the morning, only to see that there would be no sun today. Clouds covered the sky, they had moved in over night apparently. He looked around the town, not a single soul was up. That lonesome feeling came back, and again he hated it. Movement across the street caught his attention.

He drove over to the back of the Cozy Cone, seeing Laura and Sadie talking amongst themselves quietly. They noticed him, and forced a smile.

"Morning..." He said rather quietly. Seeing Laura was now an embarrassment, he didn't know how to talk to her anymore after last night. What they had was now broken... again.

Sadie sighed, the tension getting to her. "I'm gonna go wake Brian up..." She said before reversing from her place beside Laura.

She had left Laura and Doc together, to the cobalt car's agony. But all he could do was stare at her, trying to find something to say. As if anything could make things right at this moment. Speechless, for he didn't know when he'd ever see her again. The possibility being never, and thankfully Brian showed up before he consumed himself in those thoughts.

"Hey..." Brian muttered in Doc's direction. "We're gonna leave soon..."

Doc nodded, he understood. Getting a head start for the long road trip they had was a good idea. "I guess--" He stopped as he saw Dave exiting his cone that morning. The car had a box in tow, and was bringing it to him. He was confused.

"Everyone filled their tanks?" Dave asked as he pulled up in front of everyone. The three nodded, and he began to drive away.

Doc panicked, were they leaving already? The shock of them actually leaving town hadn't hit him until now, and it hurt him to a whole new level. They'd be out of his life, gone. Gone for who knows how long, after they had been reunited again. He didn't know if he'd be able to deal with that, now that he had seen them. The only wish he ever had in life had been granted, but now it seemed as if that was a bad thing. He had only felt this way once in his life, and that was the day he had left South Carolina for good.

The group of four pulled out onto the main road, Doc followed them. It was then that they turned around to face him, heavy sighs escaped them each. Doc was glad that no one else in town was up, he didn't want them to witness this goodbye.

Dave drove up to him first, pushing the box before him and to Doc. "Here," He said, nudging it again. "I was gonna give this to you earlier, but I couldn't find the right time..."

Doc looked inside the box. He was surprised when he was met with the familiar things that he had left behind at Dave's mansion all those years ago. He dug through them a moment, finding old newspaper clippings of his races, and articles about him and Brian... and his team.

Doc looked up from the box and at Dave. "You never told me what happened to James and Mason." He said quietly, just as quiet as the town had become.

Dave sighed. "They died, not too long ago..."

That was all the information Doc needed from him, no sense in digging up anymore memories for them. He continued to make his way through the cardboard box, finding documents... important documents that had drove him nuts when looking for them all these years.

And then he saw them, pictures and framed photos of him and Laura. Damn... he had missed these items so much, more than he thought. His engine began to ache at the mere thought of what these had meant to Laura over the years.

He looked up at Laura as Dave moved out of the way for her. She was approaching him, after noticing he had seen them. "I, I thought you might want to keep those..." She whispered.

He was going to miss her more than she possibly could. The abandoned feeling that he felt right now just continued to grow, until he thought life was over. She's be gone, on top of all things. Life just wasn't worth living right now, for he'd do anything to make the pain go away.

He guessed it was because of the fact that he loved her more than life. She drove him crazy, loving everything about her. From the way she moved and the way she talked, to the car she was in general. And that award winning smile that _always_ made him melt.

Or maybe it was the fact that he felt sick when ever he was around her. It seemed like no matter what, she'd be above all others to him, she was the one to make the difference. Sitting here now with her, he felt like there was nothing he could say.

As the silence began to set between the five, Laura slowly drove closer and kissed him, keeping him there. Doc didn't know how long he had sat with her, but he knew for a fact that he didn't want that kiss to end, ever. It wasn't supposed to.

But it did end, and he felt Laura pull away. She looked deep into his crystal blue eyes, and she seemed to be asking a question. Why?

Doc stared at her desperately, that feeling of panic was back. But before he could say anything, she turned away and started to drive east. She started to drive home, to the only thing she ever had. Doc knew that the look on her face would be etched in his memory forever.

Sadie approached him and pecked his fender. "Goodbye." She turned around to catch up with Laura, not knowing really what to say to him.

But Doc hadn't even noticed that goodbye from Sadie as he stared at Laura's leaving form. She was getting distant, farther away, much like his own soul. He could feel himself being torn in two.

Dave sighed again and got Doc's attention. "Farewell, Hudson..." He said before turning around himself.

Oh, another hit to his very life, to the way he felt. That had been the same goodbye that Dave had said to him, the last time he saw him. At that party, when he never saw _any _of them again. For the same reason, but not the same tone. A tone of sorrow, not disappointment.

Doc breathed in deep as Brian turned to face him.

"So... I guess this is goodbye?" Doc asked, though he knew it was.

Brian nodded. "It's been... interesting, Hudson."

Doc forced a chuckle, for him.

Brian took another look at his long lost best friend before turning to follow Dave out of Radiator Springs. He could tell Doc was just as troubled as he was at the moment, though he didn't know what else he could say to him. Taking it in stride as always, he moved off at a steady pace.

Doc watched him leave, but was he really going to let them out of his life again after all this?

"Hey!" Doc called, rushing after him.

Brian turned back, "Yeah?" He asked, concern in his voice.

"I was wondering if you'd be interested in coming to Lightning's first race of the season next year. If you didn't regret coming here, maybe you'd like to join us there. I'll cover the tickets for everyone." Doc hoped that Brian would accept.

Brian smiled for the first time that morning. "Daytona 500, right?"

The cobalt car smiled in return. "Yeah, it is."

"We'll be there." Brian assured him. And for that, he turned around and continued to follow the others out of town.

Doc's brief moment of happiness was once again consumed into feelings that matched the gloom of the morning. The clouds seeming to get darker by the minute, rain was imminent today.

Lightning had been watching Doc's goodbye this morning from the lobby of the Cozy Cone. He slowly drove up to his crew chief, who was still parked in the middle of the street, careful not to startle the car who appeared to be deep in thought. "Doc, you okay?" He asked.

Doc sighed, still watching his friends disappear. And that's when he remembered something Brian had told him years and years ago. He smirked, finding ways to live a normal life until next year. "Sorry's just a word, it doesn't fix anything."

FIN


End file.
